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Tom Jones Tickets Information
Tom Jones’s performance career started in the mid-sixties when he appeared onstage in Edwardian garb and caused a great deal of controversy with overt sexual overtones (not to be mistaken with undertones, by any measure) pervading his performances.
Beat act Tommy and the Scotts then took Jones on as frontman as he wardrobe-shifted to black leather. After purely local success with no recognition whatsoever in London, it took being discovered by future longtime manager Gordon Mills one night while performing at the Cwmtillery Tom Hat that Jones’ career finally got the big break it was needing.
It was Mills (the same man who named Engelbert Humperdinck) that came up with the moniker that would stick with Thomas Woodward for the rest of his life, inspired by the handsome title character in Henry Fielding’s “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,” a reference with which he became associated right away, much to the benefit of his career (and delight of his manager).
But even with the band changing names too, first to “The Playboys” and then to “The Squires,” producers were having a hard time with Jones raw delivery, which they heard as raucous, and of course his hip grinding, Elvis-like moves.
But then they released a first, not-so-successful single, "Chills and Fever", followed by a second single whose success can’t be underestimated, that song being "It’s Not Unusual". It was 1965, also the year Tom Jones would get his first Grammy Award, for Best New Artist.
From there Tom Jones was a permanent part of American musical culture, singing the theme for James Bond “Thunderball,” "Green Green Grass of Home", "What’s New Pussycat" (written by Burt Bacharach), "I’ll Never Fall in Love Again", and "Delilah" – all of them hits.
From 1969-71, Tom Jones starred in his own television variety show entitled “This is Tom Jones.” After the show ended, Tom Jones released even more popular singles, including "Daughter of Darkness", "Till", "The New Mexican Puppeteer", and a lasting hit for him, "She’s a Lady". Shortly thereafter he released another soon-to-be classic, A Boy from Nowhere.
Versatile if nothing else, Tom Jones recorded with a bevy of other great musicians in his lifetime, including The Art of Noise, Tori Amos, The Cardigans, The Pretenders, and Stereophonics. He’s recorded songs by Prince, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, and Randy Newman.
Many of these collaborations were to find their way onto Jones’ 2000 album “Reload” which, after two decades with only 16 of his tracks making the Billboard charts, became his biggest selling album ever.
Given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was awarded the privilege of being a Member of the Order of the British Empire and later Knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. And he was one of the select invited performers at the Wembley Stadium Concert for Diana.
Tom Jones can be seen doing his inimitable thing starting August 17th at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas and has U.S. shows currently scheduled across the country through December 12th..
