Tom Jones – Bio, Net Worth, Age, Wife, Family, Career, Awards, Height

Tom Jones is a Welsh singer who 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 1965 James Bond film Thunderball, “Green, Green Grass of Home”, “Delilah”, “She’s a Lady”, “Kiss” and “Sex Bomb”. His career began with a string of top-ten hits in the mid-1960s. He has toured regularly, with appearances in Las Vegas (1967–2011). His performing range has included pop, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, soul, and gospel. In 2008, the New York Times called Jones a musical “shape shifter”, who could “slide from soulful rasp to pop croon, with a voice as husky as it was pretty”. He made his acting debut playing the lead role in the 1979 television film “Pleasure Cove”. He also appeared as himself in Tim Burton’s 1996 film “Mars Attacks!”. In 1970, he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy nomination for hosting the television series “This Is Tom Jones”. In 2012, he played his first dramatic acting role in an episode of “Playhouse Presents”. Further, he received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966, an MTV Video Music Award in 1989, as well as two Brit Awards: Best British Male in 2000 and the Outstanding Contribution to Music award in 2003. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to music in 2005. Jones experienced a resurgence in notability in the 2010s due to his coaching role on the television talent show “The Voice UK” in 2012. 

What is Tom Jones Famous For?

• Being a Welsh Singer. 
• For his voice that has been described as a “full-throated, robust baritone”.

Where is Tom Jones From?

Tom Jones opened his eyes for the first time on 7th June 1940 in Treforest, Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom. His born name is Thomas John Woodward Jr. His nationality is Welsh and he belongs to the Welsh-English ethnicity. He is of English descent on his paternal side and of English and Welsh descent on his maternal side. His dad, Thomas Woodward (31 March 1910 – 5 October 1981) was a coal miner, and his mum, Freda (Jones) Woodward (30 December 1914 – 7 February 2003) was a homemaker. Three of his grandparents were of English origin: his paternal grandfather, James Woodward, was an ironmonger’s haulier from Gloucestershire, and his paternal grandmother, Anne Woodward, was from Wiltshire. His maternal grandfather, Albert Jones, was Welsh, and his maternal grandmother, Ada Jones, was born in Pontypridd, to parents from Somerset and Wiltshire. Jones’ present age is 82 as of 2022. 

About his education, he attended Wood Road Infants School before moving on to Wood Road Junior School in Wales, United Kingdom. He then enrolled in Pontypridd Central Secondary Modern School in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom. At the age of 16, Tom dropped out of school and started working as a door-to-door vacuum salesman and builder’s laborer. 

How did Tom Jones get his start in music?

• Tom Jones began singing at an early age: he would regularly sing at family gatherings, weddings, and in his school choir. 
• He did not like school or sports but gained confidence through his singing talent. 
• His early influences included blues, R&B, and rock and roll singers Little Richard, Solomon Burke, Jackie Wilson, Brook Benton, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
• He became the frontman in 1963 for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a Welsh beat group. 
• In 1964, the group recorded several solo tracks with producer Joe Meek, who took them to various record labels. 
• Gordon Mills met Jones, became his manager, and introduced him to London, where Mills worked in music.
• Later, Mills got Jones a recording contract with Decca. 
• His first single, “Chills and Fever”, was released in late 1964 and was followed by “It’s Not Unusual”.
•  During 1965, Mills secured a number of film themes for Jones to record, including the theme songs for the film “What’s New Pussycat?” (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and also for the James Bond film “Thunderball”.
• 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.
• In 1967, Jones performed in Las Vegas for the first time, at the Flamingo.
• In 1969 began his own TV show, “This Is Tom Jones”, which ran till 1971. The Associated Television-produced show was worth a reported US$9,000,000 (equivalent to about $60,200,000 in 2021) to Jones over three years. From 1980 to 1981, he had a second television variety show, Tom Jones, which was produced in Vancouver, Canada, and lasted 24 episodes.
• After traveling all around the world through the 70s and releasing a number of hit singles such as “She’s a Lady”, “Till”, and “The Young New Mexican Puppeteer”.
• In 1972, he co-starred with Jennifer O’Neill in David Winters’s television special The Special London Bridge Special.
• In 1979, Jones made his acting debut in Pleasure Cove, an ABC television film that was a pilot for a potential television series but was not picked up. 
• In 1984, he guest-starred in an episode of the television series Fantasy Island.
• During his 80s, he hit the singles chart with another single “A Boy From Nowhere”, released in 1987. Following the success of this single, he collaborated with artist, Van Morrison to release “Carry a Torch”.
• In 1993, he signed a contract with Interscope Records and released the album, “The Lead And How To Swing It” from which the single, “If I Only Knew” became a huge hit.
• His next big hit was “Reload” for which he joined hands with a number of artists such as Natalie Imbruglia, Cerys Matthews, Van Morrison, Mousse T, Robbie Williams, and more. The album went to No. 1 in the UK and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
• In 2000, he was invited by President Bill Clinton on New Year’s Eve to perform in Washington D.C. after a couple of years he released his next album, “Mr. Jones” which enjoyed a fair amount of success.
• On 1 July 2007, Jones was among the artists who performed at Wembley Stadium at the Concert for Diana, joined on stage by guitarist Joe Perry of Aerosmith and soul singer Joss Stone.
• In 2008, he released “24 Hours”, from which the single, If He Should Ever Leave You was a huge hit. 
• His album “Praise & Blame” was released on 26 July 2010. 
• In July 2010 Jones appeared on the penultimate episode of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and performed “Burning Hell”.
• On 22 September, Jones appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.
• In May 2011 Jones appeared as a guest vocalist on the debut album Let Them Talk by Hugh Laurie. 
• On 25 May 2011, he appeared on American Idol after a medley of his hits performed by the American Idol “Top 13”.
• He released a single on 19 March 2012, produced by former White Stripes frontman Jack White, called “Evil”.
• In 2012, he was invited to judge the immensely popular reality singing competition, “The Voice UK” along with other judges including, Jessie J, will.i.am and Danny O’Donoghue. He mentored Leanne Mitchell to win the first series. In 2017 he returned to The Voice as a coach for series 6
• He returned to coach in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
• In May 2012 Jones released the album “Spirit in the Room” on Island Records/Universal Music. 
• In December 2015 he appeared on the BBC’s Jools’ Annual Hootenanny, on duetting with Paul Weller.
• In September 2015, he announced the long-awaited release of his album “Long Lost Suitcase”, on 9 October, through Virgin/EMI.
• In January 2021, he announced his forthcoming covers album “Surrounded by Time”.
• In March he appeared on Later… with Jools Holland where he sang “I’m Growing Old” from that album.
• On 17 and 18 June 2022, he appeared at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff alongside Stereophonics, whose Saturday concert was broadcast live on BBC Two. 

Tom Jones Awards and Achievements

• Won Brit Awards under the category British Male Solo Artist and Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2000 and 2003
• Won Danish Music Awards under Best International Male in 1995
• Won NME Awards under Best Male Singer – UK in 1968-1969
• Won Silver Clef Award in 2001
• 1966: Grammy Award for Best New Artist
• 1966: Grammy Award nomination for Contemporary Rock & Roll Male Vocal Performance for “What’s New Pussycat?”
• 1966: Grammy Award nomination for Contemporary Rock & Roll Single for “It’s Not Unusual”
• 1970: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for This Is Tom Jones
• 1970: Ivor Novello Award for International Artist of the Year 
• 1989: MTV Video Music Award – Breakthrough Video for “Kiss”
• 1989: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 1999: appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) 
• 2006: Knighthood for “services to music”
• 2017: Bambi Award in the category “legend” 

Who is Tom Jones married to?

Tom Jones is a married man when it comes to his marital status. He married his beautiful wife, Linda (born in 1941 as Melinda Rose Trenchard). After a year of dating, on 2nd March 1957, at the age of 16, Tom married his high-school girlfriend of the same age because she got pregnant. On 11th April 1957, they welcomed their son, Mark Woodward, who later became a TV personality, and Tom had to drop out of school and support his family financially. He remained married to Linda until April 10, 2016, when she passed away from cancer. He is also the grandfather to his two grandchildren (Alex and Emma). He sold their Los Angeles mansion and all possessions and moved back to London, England, and only took “treasured photos.” After the death of his wife, Melinda, he was observed growing close to Priscilla Presley, an American actress, best known as the ex-wife of the singer Elvis Presley. In 2021 he said they had known each other since the 1960s and simply enjoyed spending time together. People had thought they were dating because they had been seen together dining and at Jeff Franklin’s house. Whereas the two have not confirmed their relationship yet. He resides in a flat in London. 

Everything To Know About Priscilla Presley

Previously, he had an encounter with a 22-year-younger American model, Sheila Kennedy, in the past. He was also briefly connected to the American TV personality, Pamela Des Barres. In a 2008 interview, Cassandra Peterson, an American actress, revealed that she had lost her virginity to Tom. He was briefly connected to the American actress, Mamie Van Doren, in 1965. He had a 2-year relationship with the American singer, Mary Wilson, best known as one of the members of the singing group, The Supremes. He dated the well-known TV personality between 1973 and 1974. For 3 years, Tom and Charlotte, an American anti-revenge porn activist, politician, TV host, and actress were in a relationship. He dated American model Katherine Berkery for a month, from October to November 1987, while he was on a tour in the United States. Katherine got pregnant and gave birth to a son, Jonathan Berkery. She stated that Tom was the father, which was confirmed by a DNA test, and the court ruled in her favor. Tom initially denied those findings but admitted they were true in 2008.  

How much is Tom Jones’s Net Worth?

Tom Jones is a singer and actor whose career started in the mid-1960 and saw the release of 41 studio albums between 1965 and 2015. As of 2022, the net worth of Tom Jones is estimated to have $250 million (£187.3m). He has sold more than 100 million records and bagged 36 Top 40 hits in the UK, and 19 in the US charts. He’s also toured the world with his music and even had a residency in Las Vegas between 1967 up until 2012. This included his variety show ‘This Is Tom Jones’ which aired between 1969 and 1971 and was reportedly worth around $9,000,000 (£6.8 million) at the time. Today, he is making his salary in millions of dollars from his music career which is his main source of wealth. 

How tall is Tom Jones?

Tom Jones has a perfect height of 5 ft 10.5 in or 179 cm and his bodyweight measures 91 Kg or 200.5 lbs. His body type is average. His hair color is black and he has a pair of piercing blue eyes. Due to advancing age, his hair turned ‘Salt and Pepper’ then ‘Gray.’ He has a signature goatee facial hair. At 12 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Many years later he said: “I spent two years in bed recovering. It was the worst time of my life.” During convalescence, he could do little else but listen to music and draw. Today, he has got a healthy body with an attractive personality.