Tom Jones Biography

At 23, he began billing himself as Tommy Scott and singing with the Senators. He went solo the following year and, after changing his name to Tom Jones, with the help of singer-turned-manager Gordon Mills, he won a contract with Decca.

Jones had his first hit in 1965 with ‘It's Not Unusual’. His flamboyance and knock-‘em-dead sex appeal helped make him a major star, with four more hits that year.

An avalanche of gold singles and albums were soon to follow, including ‘Delilah’, ‘Help Yourself’, ‘Love Me Tonight’, and Tom Jones in Las Vegas’. For much of the late 1960s, several of his LPs were in the Top ten Charts in both Europe and the United States.

Continuing into the 1970s gold hits came with ‘I (Who Have Nothing)’, ‘She's A Lady’ and ‘Tom Jones Live at Caesars Palace’. By the end of 1970 Tom had sold over thirty million discs, in all categories around the world.

With this tremendous recording success, Tom was able to draw capacity audiences in concert halls and arenas worldwide. His skills as a singer developed sharply; his energy, openness and spontaneity appealed to critics and audiences alike.

In 1969, he starred in his own television variety show, ‘This Is Tom Jones’. It was alternately filmed in London and Hollywood. After the show ended in 1971, he largely left recording, in favour of a career as a Las Vegas nightclub singer. He began his sporadic film career in the early 1970s.

In the early 1980s, Jones began recording again and touring. He continues to occasionally appear in feature films and on television. He lives with his wife of 38 years, Melinda, in their homes in Bel Air, California and South Wales. His son Mark, and daughter-in-law Donna, have given him a grandson, Alexander John, born in 1983, and a granddaughter Emma Violet, born in 1987.

Tom has recently joined forces with piano supremo, Jools Holland, to record and tour an album of early Rock n Roll classics.