Mickey Thomas- Starship – Hobby turns into unexpected career

During the 1960’s, the wave of British invasion came over to the United States with the famous band The Beatles, and Beatlemania was formed. Mickey Thomas, lead singer of Starship, formally known as Jefferson Starship, was one of many affected by the mania.

Thomas was born and raised in Cairo, Georgia. He said his passion for music first began after seeing the Beatles perform in Atlanta at the Fulton County Atlanta Braves Stadium in 1965.

“My best friends and I fell in love with The Beatles and other bands from the British invasion,” Thomas said. “We were lucky enough to see them perform live, and when we came back home after that concert, we started our first band. I was 15 years old. We bought some cheap guitars, learned the basic chords, and played all throughout high school. It was a fun time.”

After graduating from high school, Thomas went on to college at Valdosta State University. His band split different ways after graduation, but when Thomas began college, he found others who liked to play and then formed another band. At that time, Thomas never really thought music was going to be a career for him until an opportunity came in 1971.

“Music was just a hobby for me honestly, but I got an opportunity to head out west to California to sing with gospel artist Gideon Daniels when I was 21 years old,” Thomas said. “It was a big move for me because I had never really traveled other than to Florida. But he was my mentor and the one who really taught me how to sing. Next thing I know, music became more than just a hobby; it became a lifestyle and career.”

Daniels then introduced Thomas to Elvin Bishop. In 1974 Thomas joined the Elvin Bishop Group as a harmony singer and eventually made it to lead vocals. Thomas is best known for singing lead on the chart hit song, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” which was a number three single in 1976.

“That was when my career really started to kick-off,” Thomas said. “It was so much fun. I spent three years with the Elvin Bishop Group. We worked a lot and spent 250 days a year on the road. It truly was an experience of a lifetime because I started to really hone my craft and learn more about how to sing and perform.”

Another opportunity came about for Thomas in 1979 when he was asked to join the Jefferson Starship band after the departure of Marty Balin and Grace Slick. Thomas spent most of the early 1980’s as the main vocalist for Jefferson Starship. In 1985 the band changed their name to Starship, and had several number one hits such as, “We Built This City,” “Sara,” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”

“These songs have allowed me to continue my career and transcend through generations,” Thomas said. “For example, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” was recently in the hit movie, “Guardians of the Galaxy.” It’s been really cool to see younger generations get into our music.”

Thomas and the Starship band will be coming to the Georgia National Fair on Oct. 9, performing at 7 p.m. at the Georgia National Stage outside.