Tom Jones

Treforest, the Senators, and a name borrowed from a film

Tom Jones was born Thomas John Woodward on 7 June 1940 in Treforest, in the south Wales valleys. By 1963 he was fronting a beat group called Tommy Scott and the Senators, working the Welsh circuit. The manager Gordon Mills took him on and in 1964 renamed him Tom Jones, trading on the popularity of the 1963 film of the same title. The first single under that name, 'Chills and Fever', came out late in 1964 and did nothing at all.

The follow-up settled the matter. 'It's Not Unusual', written by Les Reed with Mills, went to number one in Britain in early 1965 and into the American top ten, which put a Welsh club singer with a baritone built for volume into the middle of the British Invasion. The Grammy for Best New Artist followed in 1966. What is striking in hindsight is how little the voice has needed revising since: the instrument that carried that record is still the thing audiences buy tickets for six decades later.

Film themes, a variety show, and the Vegas decades

The run of singles through the 1960s established a range that moved between orchestral pop and country sentiment. He sang the theme to Thunderball in 1965 and the title song for What's New Pussycat?, written by Burt Bacharach, the same year. 'Green, Green Grass of Home', a Curly Putman song, landed in 1967. 'Delilah' reached number two in the UK. 'She's a Lady' carried him into the early 1970s.

Television widened the audience. This Is Tom Jones ran on ABC from 1969 to 1971, a variety hour built around a singer who could hold his own with whoever was booked that week. Alongside it came Las Vegas, where he performed regularly from 1967 until 2011 — a 44-year association with a city whose showrooms shaped the way he paces a set to this day.

Two later reinventions matter. 'Kiss', recorded with Art of Noise in 1988, reached number five in Britain and won the MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video in 1989, which reintroduced him to an audience that had not been born when Thunderball opened. 'Sex Bomb', with Mousse T., went to number three in 2000. In March 2009 '(Barry) Islands in the Stream' put him back at number one in the UK for the first time since 1967 — a gap of 42 years between chart-toppers. Total sales sit at roughly 100 million records, with 19 American top 40 hits.

Surrounded by Time: the record that reframed the back catalogue

The album that defines his current standing is Surrounded by Time, released on 23 April 2021 through EMI, and on S-Curve in the United States, with Ethan Johns producing. It debuted at number one in the UK on first-week sales of 14,936 copies, making Jones, at 80 years and ten months, the oldest male artist to reach number one on the UK albums chart and the oldest ever to do so with newly recorded material, taking that mark off Bob Dylan, who had set it in 2020.

It is mostly other people's songs, chosen for what they let him do rather than for nostalgia: Dylan's 'One More Cup of Coffee', Cat Stevens' 'Pop Star', Todd Snider's 'Talking Reality Television Blues', a traditional 'Samson and Delilah'. Critical response was strong — a Metacritic average of 83 — and the praise centred on expression rather than power, with reviewers arguing he was conveying more feeling than at any earlier point in his career. An expanded Hourglass Edition arrived on 3 December 2021, adding Dylan's 'Not Dark Yet' and a new song, 'One Hell of a Life'.

Before it came Long Lost Suitcase in 2015. Nothing newer than the 2021 album has been released, which makes Surrounded by Time, five years on, the spine of the live show rather than a promotional obligation.

Dropped from The Voice UK

The most recent news is not musical. On 8 September 2026 it was reported that Jones would not return as a coach on The Voice UK for its fifteenth series, ending an association that began when the show launched on the BBC in 2012 and continued through its move to ITV, interrupted only by an earlier departure in 2015. Across those years he mentored three series winners, among them the first, Leanne Mitchell.

Jones made clear the decision was not his. He said ITV had cited a financial difficulty with insurance, and that the broadcaster wanted to refresh the coaching line-up, adding: "The only thing I know right now, is that it's never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who's still pretty good at his job." He also said he loved the show and appreciated its audience. A smaller role was floated — appearing on the programme without being part of the competition from the start — and he was not enthusiastic about it. ITV had not responded publicly to his comments at the time of reporting.

The practical effect is that the touring is now the whole job, which is roughly how he has treated it anyway.

The 2026 touring year

Jones turned 86 on 7 June 2026. He spent that summer playing the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, then announced a North American run in late May. The Come Gather Round North American Tour opened at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, on 18 September and runs to 1 November at The Masonic in San Francisco, 25 dates across the United States and Canada. His own announcement was brief: "So pleased to say my band & I will be playing across North America this Fall bringing our show to you. I hope to see you along the road!"

The route favours theatres and casino rooms over arenas. It takes in the Borgata in Atlantic City on 25 September, two nights at the Beacon Theatre in New York on 29 and 30 September, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on 8 October, three nights at Wynn Las Vegas on 21, 23 and 24 October, and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on 26 October. Resale pricing has stayed within reach for a performer of his standing — seats for the Greek Theatre were available from $65 including fees shortly before the show, with most dates ranging from around $95 upwards.