caption associated_acts years_active birth_place name background birth_date instrument genre image article_title birth_name occupation
clayton-thomas performing at gulfstream park in hallandale , florida blood , sweat & tears 1968 -- present kingston upon thames , surrey uk david clayton-thomas solo_singer 13 september 1941 vocals , guitar r & b , rock , funk , pop davidclayton-thomasperforming . jpg david clayton-thomas
 david henry thomsett musician , songwriter , record producer
david clayton-thomas

david clayton-thomas -lrb- born david henry thomsett ; 13 september 1941 -rrb- is a grammy award-winning canadian musician , singer and songwriter , best known as the lead vocalist for the american band blood , sweat & tears .
clayton-thomas has been inducted into the canadian music hall of fame and in 2007 his jazz/rock composition `` spinning wheel '' was enshrined in the canadian songwriter 's hall of fame .
in 2010 clayton-thomas received his star on canada 's walk of fame .
clayton-thomas began his music career in the early '60s , working the clubs on toronto 's yonge street , where he discovered his love of singing and playing the blues .
before moving to new york city in 1967 , clayton-thomas fronted a couple of local bands , first the shays and then the bossmen , one of the earliest rock bands with significant jazz influences .
but the real success came only a few difficult years later when he joined blood , sweat & tears .
clayton-thomas 's first album with the band , `` blood , sweat & tears '' -lrb- which was released in december 1968 -rrb- -- despite the self-titled name , actually the band 's second album -- sold ten million copies worldwide .
the record topped the billboard album chart for seven weeks , and charted for 109 weeks .
it won five grammy awards , including album of the year and best performance by a male vocalist .
it featured three hit singles , `` you made me so very happy '' , `` spinning wheel '' , `` and when i die '' -lrb- on the hot 100 , each peaked at no. 2 and lasted 13 weeks -rrb- as well as a rendition of billie holiday 's `` god bless the child '' .
with clayton-thomas fronting the band , bs&t continued with a string of hit albums , including `` blood , sweat & tears 3 '' which featured carole king 's `` hi-de-ho '' and clayton-thomas 's `` lucretia macevil '' , and `` blood , sweat & tears 4 '' , which yielded another clayton-thomas penned hit single , `` go down gamblin ' '' .
in 2004 , clayton-thomas left new york for toronto and launched an all-star 10-piece band .
since then , he has toured and recorded almost a dozen albums under his own name .
