Posted on Jun 30, 2017 in
NEWSWORTHY
Tom Jones. Photo courtes from www.smartfinancialcentre.net.
Live Nation is pleased to welcome Tom Jones to Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Tuesday, October 3rd at 8:00 pm. Tickets will go on-sale Friday June 23rd at 10 am at Live Nation.com and Ticketmaster.com.
Tom Jones’ 50-year career has remarkably gone from strength to strength. Along with sustaining his popularity as a live performer and recording artist for five decades, he has garnered – at the age of 76 – the best reviews of his career for his most recent albums, Long Lost Suitcase, Spirit In The Room and Praise & Blame (Island/Universal). Critics across the world are unanimous in their approval and admiration for both the recorded work and his concert performances.
Thomas Jones Woodward was born in Pontypridd, South Wales, Great Britain on June 7th, 1940 to a father who worked the coal mines of the Rhondda Valley. After quitting school at age 15, working a variety of manual jobs, singing in clubs at night and marrying at 17, Jones went on to sign with Decca Records in London.
Jones has a fundamental interest in a wide range of music. Although he is well-known for hits including It’s Not Unusual, Kiss, Delilah, What’s New Pussycat, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again and If I Only Knew, he is first and foremost an artist with a true rhythm and blues soul. He has remained a vital recording artist, with his 1999 album Reload the biggest selling of his then 35-year career. Jones was a key player in Martin Scorsese’s Red White & Blues series, and in 2004, he released an album of roots rock ‘n roll with Jools Holland. In 2008, 24 Hours was a critical career highlight with many of the self-penned tracks being an insightful and evocative reflection of his spirited and rich life.
The year 2010 saw a change of direction with Jones releasing his 39th studio album, Praise & Blame. The Praise & Blame mantra was “get back to basics,” and the album was recorded as wholly live performances at Peter Gabriel’s studio in Bath, England, produced by Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne, Laura Marling, Paolo Nutini). The result witnessed a singer at the top of his game with the songs themselves coaxing exhilarating performances out of Jones and his band.
Following the success of Praise & Blame, in May 2012 Tom released Spirit In The Room. Paired once again with producer/guitarist Ethan Johns at Bath’s Real World Studios, Spirit In The Room, like its predecessor, allows an unvarnished Jones to bring a voice to songs as only he can. Accompanied by Ethan Johns throughout, the album includes gems from a diverse choice of writers including Richard Thompson, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and Paul McCartney. Spirit In The Room is simple, raw and soulful.
Jones was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen in 2006, an honor he deeply cherishes. He celebrated this honor once again in 2012 when he performed at the Queens Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace. Other highlights of his long career include receiving a BRIT Awards for Best Male and Outstanding Contribution to Music, a Silver Clef Award and a Silver Clef Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Hitmaker Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Gentlemen’s Quarterly Man Of The Year and the prestigious UK Music Industry Trust Award. He has been animated as himself in The Simpsons, Duck Dodgers and The Emperor’s New Groove. In 2012 he landed his first acting role not playing himself, alongside Brenda Blethyn and Alison Steadman, in Playhouse Presents: King of The Teds for Sky Arts.
In a very successful touring year in 2014, Jones had the thrill of performing at the MCG in Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final, the premier sporting event in Australia, alongside Ed Sheeran. Later in the year, he appeared at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit concert, sharing the bill with Florence + The Machine, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Brian Wilson and others. And over in the UK, he was pleased to close the first Annual BBC Music Awards, helping to salute a fantastic year of music across the BBC by performing alongside Paloma Faith, a chorus of hundreds and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
In 2015, Jones continued his role as coach on the fourth series of The Voice UK, working alongside Will.i.am, Rita Ora and Ricky Wilson. In February of that year, he received a very special invitation to perform at the 25th Anniversary of MusiCares Person Of The Year tribute honoring Bob Dylan, alongside musical luminaries Bruce Springsteen, Beck, Jack White, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson and many more. The following evening he sang a duet with Jessie J at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.
After a busy few months touring, Jones went into the latter part of 2015 with two very special releases: his first ever autobiography entitled Over The Top And Back (Penguin Books) and the book’s companion soundtrack entitled Long Lost Suitcase (VirginEMI/Caroline), which he actively promoted internationally. He also engaged in a major fund-raising effort for the BBC’s charity Children In Need, headlining a special two-hour television event with his friends in both music and comedy.
Jones is indeed a living legend, one of the few musical artists whose profession began at the dawn of modern popular music who continues to have a vital recording and performing career to this day. His irresistible show traverses musical eras and genres, cuts across class divides and appeals to young and old, male and female, mainstream and cutting edge. Jones has always been about the power of the song, the power of the voice.
