Tommy Lee Jones Wedding Photos

[Garland Flugum]

Sir Thomas Jones Woodward OBE[1][2] (born 7 June 1940), known professionally as Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. His career began with a string of top 10 hits in the 1960s and he has since toured regularly, with appearances in Las Vegas from 1967 to 2011. His voice has been described by AllMusic as a "full-throated, robust baritone".[3]

Jones's performing range has included pop, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, soul, and gospel. In 2008, the New York Times called him a "musical shapeshifter [who could] slide from soulful rasp to pop croon, with a voice as husky as it was pretty".[4] He has sold over 100 million records, with 36 Top 40 hits in the UK and 19 in the US, including "It's Not Unusual", "What's New Pussycat?", the theme song for the James Bond film Thunderball (1965), "Green, Green Grass of Home", "Delilah", "She's a Lady", "Sex Bomb", and a cover of Prince's "Kiss".[5]

Jones's voice has been described as a "full-throated, robust baritone".[3] According to Jones himself, his young voice was a tenor voice. He said: "What you lose on the top end, you gain on the bottom end. I used to be able to hit a top C when I was young now it's a B flat."[18] He became the frontman in 1963 for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a Welsh beat group. They soon gained a local following and reputation in South Wales. In 1964, the group recorded several solo tracks with producer Joe Meek, who took them to various record labels, but they had little success. Later that year, Decca producer Peter Sullivan saw Tommy Scott and the Senators performing in a club and directed them to manager Phil Solomon, but the partnership was short-lived.

The group continued playing gigs around South Wales. Gordon Mills met Jones, became his manager, and introduced him to London, where Mills worked in music.[19] Mills renamed him "Tom Jones", to exploit the popularity of the Academy Award-winning 1963 film.[20]

Eventually, Mills got Jones a recording contract with Decca. His first single, "Chills and Fever", was released in late 1964. It did not chart, but the follow-up, "It's Not Unusual", became an international hit after offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline promoted it. The following year was the most prominent of Jones's career, making him one of the most popular vocalists of the British Invasion. In early 1965, "It's Not Unusual" reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom and the top ten in the United States. During 1965, Mills secured a number of film themes for Jones to record, including the James Bond film Thunderball,[21] and What's New Pussycat? (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David).[21][22] Jones was sceptical about the latter song when first approached about it. He said when it was offered to him, he felt it was "sort of a backhanded compliment: 'I've got to have you, but this is the song.'"[22] Jones said it took convincing from Bacharach to perform "What's New Pussycat?":

"When I first heard it I thought, 'Christ! What the bloody hell do they want me to sing this for?' But Burt Bacharach explained, 'I want the big voice to sing this bloody crazy song.' And you put it on, it's a classic."[22]

Jones was awarded the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966.[23] During a filming break at Paramount Studios (1965) in Hollywood, Jones met Elvis Presley for the first time;[24] he recalls Presley singing, 'With These Hands' as he walked towards him from the film set.[25] The two men became good friends.[26]

In 1966, Jones's popularity began to slip somewhat, causing Mills to reshape the singer's image into that of a crooner. Jones also began to sing broader material. Jones soon topped UK charts and reached the top 40 in US charts. Over the next few years he scored a string of hits on both sides of the Atlantic, including "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "I'm Coming Home", and "Delilah", each of which reached No. 2 in the UK chart.[27][28]

In 1967, Jones performed in Las Vegas for the first time, at the Flamingo.[21] His performances and style of dress became part of his stage act, and increasingly featured his open, half-unbuttoned shirts and tight trousers. He soon chose to record less and focus on club performances. Jones played in Las Vegas at least one week each year until 2011.

Jones had an internationally successful television variety show titled This Is Tom Jones from 1969 to 1971. The Associated Television-produced show was worth a reported US$9,000,000 (equivalent to about $67,700,000 in 2023) to Jones over three years. It was broadcast by ITV in the UK and by the American Broadcasting Company in the US. As a result of the show, Jones was nominated in 1970 for a "best actor" Golden Globe.[29] From 1980 to 1981, he had a second television variety show, Tom Jones, which was produced in Vancouver, Canada, and lasted 24 episodes.[citation needed] Both television shows were the subject of litigation with the original licence holder C/F International. As of December 2004[update], C/F International was a secured judgment creditor of Classic World Productions and its principal, Darryl Payne, for approximately US$1,000,000 (equivalent to about $1,600,000 in 2023), and was the principal secured creditor at the time of the subsequent bankruptcy filing by the company. C/F International's action against Classic World Productions and owner Darryl Payne was based on unpaid royalty payments from This Is Tom Jones[30] and related recordings.[31] This Is Tom Jones is sold on DVD by Time Life rather than by Classic World Productions or C/F International.[32]

In the 1970s, Jones toured with the female singing groups Quiet Elegance and the Blossoms as his backing groups. He had a number of hit singles, including "She's a Lady", "Till", and "The Young New Mexican Puppeteer", but in the mid-1970s his popularity declined. He did, however, have a big hit in 1976 with "Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow", which went to No. 1 on the US country chart, No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 40 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1972, he co-starred with Jennifer O'Neill in David Winters's television special The Special London Bridge Special.[38] Jones explained that he accepted to do the special because it allowed him to continue doing television without having the confinement of a series.[39]

In 1976, Jones was set to make his film debut in the film Yockowald, in which he was to play a CIA assassin. The film was shelved after the production ran out of money three weeks into filming.[40]

In 1987, Tom Jones re-entered the singles chart with "A Boy from Nowhere", which went to No. 2 in the UK. The following year, he covered Prince's "Kiss" with Art of Noise. The song reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 31 in the US. The video for "Kiss" was played frequently on MTV and VH1, and won the MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video.[43]

Jones received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989, located at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, in front of Frederick's of Hollywood. He collaborated with Van Morrison on his album Carrying A Torch, released in 1991 on Dover Records, featuring Jones's cover of Morrison's title track. Partly recorded at Townhouse Studios in London, Morrison wrote and produced four songs for the album.[44][45]

Jones signed with Interscope Records in 1993 and released the album The Lead and How to Swing It. The first single, "If I Only Knew", went to No. 11 in the UK.[42] Jones performed the song at the 1994 MTV Europe Music Awards, for which he also served as host. In 1997 Jones recorded a cover of Randy Newman song "You Can Leave Your Hat On" for the soundtrack of The Full Monty.[46]

In 1996, Jones appeared as himself in Tim Burton's ensemble science-fiction comedy film Mars Attacks!. A scene in the film features him performing on stage when aliens attack and he manages to escape with a gun.[47]

In 1999, Jones released the album Reload, a collection of cover duets with artists such as the Cardigans, Natalie Imbruglia, Cerys Matthews, Van Morrison, Mousse T, Portishead, Stereophonics and Robbie Williams. The album went to No. 1 in the UK and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.[48] Five singles from Reload charted in the UK top 40.[42][49] The single "Sex Bomb" was released in early 2000 and became the album's biggest single, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

US President Bill Clinton invited Jones to perform on New Year's Eve at the 2000 millennium celebrations in Washington, D.C. In 2000, Jones garnered a number of honours for his work, including a BRIT Award for Best British Male.[50] He was also hired as the new voice of Australia's National Rugby League, singing in an advertisement to market the 2000 season.[51]

In 2002, Jones released the album Mr. Jones, which was produced by Haitian-American rapper Wyclef Jean. The album and the first single, "Tom Jones International", were top 40 hits in the UK.[52]

Jones received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2003.[50] The following year he performed "You Can Leave Your Hat On" with The Pussycat Dolls and Carmen Electra on the seventh annual Vh1 Divas concert. The only male guest part of that year's lineup; which included Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Debbie Harry among many others; his cover of "Kiss" was included in an 80s finale medley. Later that year, he teamed up with pianist Jools Holland and released Tom Jones & Jools Holland, a roots rock 'n' roll album. It peaked at No. 5 in the UK.[42][53]

Jones, who had been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 at Buckingham Palace for his services to music.[56][57] After receiving a knighthood, Jones stated: "When you first come into show business and get a hit record, it is the start of something. As time goes by it just gets better. This is the best thing I have had. It's a wonderful feeling, a heady feeling."[56]

c80f0f1006