Lillo Thomas (born 1961) is an American sprint runner and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He reached the peak of his success as a recording artist in the 1980s. His most famous

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

s include "Sexy Girl" and "I'm in Love."

Career

Early in his life, Thomas was a competitive sprint runner. He retired from athletics in 1984 after a car accident in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Thomas then quickly established his musical career. His first album, released in 1983 on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, charted at #23 on the R&B Albums

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

s. ''Let Me Be Yours'' also launched his first solo hit, "(You're A) Good Girl", which peaked at #22 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. Also a successful session

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, he worked with

Evelyn "Champagne" King Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her first hit was disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from the early t ...

, Kashif,

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...

, and

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

, but developed a special relationship with

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Smith (born October 29, 1945) known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress. Biography Early life and education Moore was born Beatrice Melba Smith on October 29, 1945, in New York City to Gertrude Melba ...

. He wrote the song "Mind Up Tonight" for her and joined her on tour in 1984 as her

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

. That same year, he released his second solo album, "All of You", which climbed to #9 on the R&B Albums chart and also reached #186 on the Billboard 200. In 1985, Thomas toured with

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

, but 1987 was the pinnacle of success for his music career when his album ''Lillo'' released to become #10 on the R&B Albums chart and launched his most successful single, "I'm in Love." The song reached #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. Two other singles charted, with "Downtown" reaching #11 and "Sexy Girl" at #9 on the same chart. Thomas returned to recording with a brand new single in 1993. "Out There Doing Wrong", was written, arranged and produced by Thomas and released on THG Music. In 2010, he released his fourth album, ''Come and Get It''. In 2012, Thomas released his "Greatest Hits" album on the Fitingo Music Label. In 2024, Thomas provided vocals on the title track of Stetsasonic's album ''Here We Go Again''. Thomas lives in Westchester with his wife Kim, a VP in the Beauty industry. He is also an accomplished painter.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Discography
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Lillo Living people 1961 births American soul musicians American male singers American male sprinters Musicians from Brooklyn Track and field athletes from New York City 20th-century American sportsmen