According to The Guardian, Thomas’ family wrote on his Facebook page, “With appreciation and gratitude, the family extends a thank you for the prayers, support, precious words and other expressions of love and kindness during this time.” Born in Indiana, Thomas is best known for the 1973 anti-war song “Why Can’t We Live Together,” which was sampled by Drake for his song “Hotline Bling.”
In 2015, Thomas told Spin about the sample, “I was very proud to listen to what he had done with it. Even though he had changed the message that I had, you know, “Why can’t we live together.” But what it does is it gives me a chance for my name to be back out there, and gives me a chance to say something to the young people again. And that’s what [sic] exciting about it with me.” A cause of death and the exact date of his passing was not revealed.
