Tom Jones is the stage name for Welsh artist Sir Thomas John Woodward. He sang in choirs as a kid, and then spent two years doing nothing but listening to music when he was bedridden with tuberculosis. He married his girlfriend and had a kid at sixteen, so he took a job at a glove factory to support them. In 1963 he joined a Welsh beat group. The group didn't have much success, and eventually Gordon Mills saw him, became his manager, and renamed him Tom Jones to capitalize on the popularity of a film with the same name. In 1964, Jones released his first single which didn't chart, but his second one became an international hit after being played on pirate radio. Two guesses which song I'm talking about. He rode the fame of this song until 1966 when his popularity dipped and he was rebranded as a crooner switching to more mainstream sounds. In 1967 he started focusing on live performances rather than recording music. By the end of the 60's he got into television, eventually trying to break into movies as well which didn't really go over well. In the 80's he tried country. By the 90's he started getting featured in shows and got a star on the Walk of Fame. As of now he's been a judge on a version of The Voice, which I saw him on but never realized it was him. So check him out on that if you're curious.
Peace.
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