Why is tom Jones famous?

Answer 1

Jones was performing in nightclubs and bars in the late 50's and early 60's while working a variety of day jobs that included door to door salesman and brick laying. Gordon Mills, formerly of the vocal group The Viscounts, heard Jones at a club and was impressed. Mills was looking to get into the management side and out of the performing side of the music industry. Mills tried for awhile to secure a record deal for Jones and had little luck, a couple of singles released in 1964 made no impact in the US or UK.

By 1964 Mills did get Jones work as a "session singer", someone who would sing songs written for other performers, allowing the songwriters and managers to play these demo records to the intended performer to show them how good the song was in the hope they would agree to record it. One of those songs was "It's Not Unusual", which Mills wrote and originally intended for Sandi Shaw to sing. Shaw, very popular in the UK, turned it down. Jones loved the song and persuaded a reluctant Mills to let him record it for himself.

Tweaking the arrangement to add the horn section and electric guitar solo, London Records issued the single in early 1965 (Parrot Records in the US). It hit No. 1 on the UK charts that spring, hitting the US Top 10 two months later.

Jones had multiple minor hits through 1965-66, although the movie theme "Whats New Pussycat ?" would be a Top 5 hit for him in the US during the summer of 1965. Mills became worried that Jones performing style and image were better suited to a more mature audience, 25 and up, and not the teenagers "Pussycat" and "Unusual" were aimed at. Mills remade Jones image from a long haired jeans clad rocker into a suit and tie or tuxedo clad balladeer, singing more middle of the road material. The switch worked instantly in the UK where Jones immediately became a fixture in the Top 10. It worked slower in the states, although Jones found considerable success in the US with the singles "Green, Green Grass Of Home" in 1967 and "Delilah" in 1968.

Live on stage, Jones mixed the middle of the road pop ballads with an ecclectic range of music. Jones concerts in the late 60's and early 70's would see him mixing Broadway Show Tunes and Frank Sinatra tributes with cover versions of R&B music from the likes of Wilson Pickett and Stevie Wonder alongside 50's rock and roll hits by Little Richard. It made live albums like Tom Jones Live In Las Vegas in 1969 Top 10 hits and million sellers while establishing a reputation as a more versatile performer than other pop singers of the time, enhancing his appeal. Jones sugestive hip swiveling dance moves and flirtatious nature with females in the audience added to his popularity, making him an iconic sex symbol of the time and making his live concerts among the hottest tickets in town, his US Tours in 1969 and 1970 breaking numerous box office records.

His TV Variety Show This Is Tom Jones enhanced all aspects of his image, romantic balladeer, sex symbol ladies man, rock star, and showcased his musical versatility as he shared the stage with an unusual array of stars including Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin, Sammy Davis JR, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Joe Cocker and others, all of which he successfully performed on stage with during each epidode.

That versatility enabled Jones, at least at his height in popularity, to maintain a decent following among men as well as ladies. Jones actually won Playboy Magazine's annual readers poll for Best Male Vocalist in 1969 and finished third in 1970.

Jones maintained a loyal following of fans years after the hits records stopped and the sex symbol stage antics grew old but has remained popular through his willingness to work with new, younger performers, as well as continuing the trend from his early days of performing a wide array of musical styles, although he still mixes in plenty of his own hit singles in his live show for die hard fans.

Answer 2

He began singing when he was a child, but only for family gatherings, weddings and the school choir.

He married Melinda Trenchard in 1957 and had a son named Mark with her. He got a job in a glove factory to support the family.

In 1963 he became the frontman for a Welsh beat group called 'Tommy Scott and the Senators'.

In 1964 he made several solo tracks with producer Joe Meek but had little success.

Answer 3

Tom Jones was the frontman for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a Welsh beat group, in 1963. He was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager originally from South Wales. Mills became Jones' manager and took the young singer to London. From there on, Jones landed his first contract and his great music career took off.

Answer 4

Sir Tom Jones (70)(2011)

Is a singer and was dubbed by her majesty the Queen.

Answer 5

because he is a welsh singer