Born and raised in the
Atlanta suburb of
Conyers, Georgia, Thomas was singing lead for his father's gospel group by the age of 9. While still in high school, his ability as a keyboard player led him to recording sessions in the local Atlanta studios. Here, he came to the attention of country singer
Ronnie Milsap. Thomas moved to Nashville as Milsap's first staff writer for his publishing company, Ronjoy Music. Shortly thereafter, Thomas signed on with
Word Records and began a seven-year tenure as their staff writer and producer. During this time, Thomas produced over 16 albums for various artists earning over 20 No. 1 singles. Encouraged by this success, Thomas left Word and founded his own publishing and production company, Yellow Elephant Music, and began writing and producing music for
BeBe and
CeCe Winans. During their four album collaboration, the three sold over 3 million albums and had nine top 30 singles, six of which went top 10 and two of which went No. 1. As a result of this relationship, BeBe & CeCe Winans earned four Grammy Awards, a nomination, and five
Dove Awards. In 1989, he collaborated once more with BeBe Winans, this time co-writing Takin' a Chance, a Japan-exclusive single from Whitney Houston's third album, "I'm Your Baby Tonight".
1990s In 1991, Thomas crossed over into the world of mainstream pop when he partnered with longtime friend and Christian contemporary musician
Amy Grant to collect their first No. 1, Top 40 hit, "
Baby Baby." Meanwhile, Thomas focused his music on former Miss America, soon to become global pop star and actress,
Vanessa Williams. He produced five tracks on her
Comfort Zone album including the No. 1 hit, "
Save the Best for Last". These two No. 1 songs with Grant and Williams earned Thomas Grammy nominations for
Producer of the Year,
Song of the Year, and
Record of the Year. Responding to the momentum created by this success, Thomas owned
The Bennett House recording studio in Franklin, Tennessee. Twenty minutes from downtown Nashville, The Bennett House not only accommodates Thomas' personal project studio and administrative offices but also offers outside clients a 19th-century recording environment that is unique in the Nashville music scene. Christening the move into The Bennett House, Thomas gained his attention again to Amy Grant by writing and producing for her
House of Love album. This album featured several hits for Thomas including the songs, "
Lucky One," and the title track, "
House of Love." Thomas produced the song "
The Sweetest Days" for Vanessa Williams as well as records for
James Ingram,
Peabo Bryson,
Deborah Cox,
Regina Belle and
Wendy Moten. In 1995, Thomas wrote and produced the hit song, "
I Could Fall in Love," for
Selena. Selena thus became the first artist to place both a Spanish- and an English-language song in the top 10 of the Hot Latin Tracks chart. "I Could Fall in Love" became the fifth best-charting song from that chart in 1995 and remained the highest-charting English-language song for two years, until
Celine Dion's 1998 single "
My Heart Will Go On" surpassed it when it peaked at number 1. The album,
Dreaming of You, on which "I Could Fall in Love" appears, has now been certified 35x platinum. That year Thomas also produced Williams' Academy Award-winning single, "
Colors of the Wind," for the multi-platinum selling motion picture soundtrack,
Pocahontas. In 1997, Thomas completed tracks for Grant's next album,
Behind the Eyes and Williams' follow up album,
Next. He also produced records for
Michael Bolton,
Luther Vandross,
Brian McKnight,
Tamia and
Puff Johnson. In early 1998, Thomas produced several songs for Williams and
Jon Secada for the movie,
Dance with Me. He also produced the track, "
I Do (Cherish You)," for
98 Degrees' multi-platinum album on Universal Records,
98° and Rising. The song was also featured in the movie,
Notting Hill, that starred
Julia Roberts and
Hugh Grant. In addition, Thomas was nominated for a Grammy for Producer of the Year for the
1998 Grammy awards. In late 1998, Thomas served as the principal producer and co-executive producer for the soundtrack
Touched by an Angel featuring songs inspired by the popular TV series. On this project, Thomas worked with
Deana Carter, Amy Grant,
Faith Hill,
Uncle Sam and
Wynonna. Early in 1999, Thomas produced the track "Precious Wings" with actress/singer
Tatyana Ali for the movie
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. During that year he also produced tracks for
Yolanda Adams,
Wild Orchid and Vanessa Williams. Thomas also produced the song "
You're Where I Belong", written by
Diane Warren for
Trisha Yearwood for the movie
Stuart Little.
2000s In early 2000, Thomas wrote and produced the hit song, "
I Wanna Be with You," for
Mandy Moore. The song was featured in the Columbia Pictures film,
Center Stage. In 2009, Thomas produced the Grammy Award-winning
Heather Headley album,
Audience of One.
2010s In 2012, Thomas produced the Grammy-nominated band,
Forever Jones' album,
Musical Revival released April 10, 2012 on EMI Records. He also reunited with Headley in 2012 to produce a project in conjunction with her lead role in the stage adaptation of
The Body Guard, which opened in the UK, November 2012. The Whitney Houston tribute moves from the West End to Broadway in 2014. Thomas produced the title track and three additional songs for
The Voice finalist
Chris Mann's 2012 debut album
Roads on Universal Republic. ==References==