Thomas was born in Sikeston, Missouri as one of 11 siblings. She moved around often in her youth with her family, living in various states including Virginia, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee. She spent her teenage years in Daytona Beach, Florida. In Florida she became something of a wild child, sacrificing school and books for sunning and bikinis on the Florida beaches. After high school, she moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she performed a variety of jobs, among them, modeling aside the championship trophy after the annual NASCAR race held there was over. She worked as a prostitute at the Moonlite BunnyRanch, and according to Dennis Hof made $2000 a night. 2002 saw Thomas speaking publicly about her life at the BunnyRanch in the HBOdocumentary series entitled , and in 2003, she appeared in its sequel. She later told interviewer Andrew Anthony that there is no real difference between pornography and prostitution. Thomas is the aunt of porn starSunrise Adams. Thomas was married to Kent Wallace, her publicist and co-star from her reality showSin City Mom. She dated Dennis Hof, the owner of Moonlight Bunny Ranch, during her tenure there, and during that time legally adopted the name Diane Hof.
Thomas shot her first adult film when she was 18, appearing in Mr. Peeper's 25th Anniversary alongside her husband, Zach, and another man. She says the name "Sunset" was inspired by a comment of her husband when he said "You know what, honey?...you're pretty as a sunset"; the name Thomas popped up when she was thinking of a good last name to go with it. After appearing in the Cathouse documentaries, Thomas was featured in the 2005 documentaryPornstar Pets and made an appearance on Maury, in which she encountered a crush from her middle school days. The episode was titled 'I Was An Ugly Teen... Now I'm a Hot, Sexy 10!'. In 2006, Thomas obtained her own show on KSEX radio called Sunset After Sunset. In 2007, she appeared on the Montel Williams Show to discuss her porn career and being a mother. In April 2009 Thomas released her erotic fiction novel, Anatomy of an Adult Film, which was largely a fictionalized account of her adult film career. She was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame in April 2010.
