Arise Sir Tom Jones: The Biography

Arise Sir Tom Jones: The Biography by Russell, Gwen. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781844543229.

From beginnings in the Welsh town of Pontypridd selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, to sell-out Las Vegas shows and the ultimate accolade—a knighthood from the Queen—this celebration of the remarkable career of Tom Jones reveals the man behind the icon. His phenomenal journey is traced from his first South Wales gigs as an unsigned front man to his breakthrough hit Its Not Unusual, and eventual superstardom as the voice behind Whats New Pussycat, Delilah, and Shes a Lady. While his collaborations read like a whos who of pop and rock history, including works with Johnny Cash, Wyclef Jean, Janis Joplin, Van Morrison, Pavarotti, The Pretenders, Sting, and Robbie Williams, it has not all been a trouble-free career for the legendary Grammy award–winning entertainer whose shows are renowned for panty-hurling frenzies. Hard times discussed include Toms bed-ridden year, his affairs, losing his long-time manager to cancer, and the quiet times in his career that he rode to eventually come out on top.