Global superstar Tom Jones has been in the public eye for over 50 years with an extensive discography, a long list of accolades, and a knighthood under his belt. The Welsh singer was born on 7 June 1940, so will be celebrating his 80th birthday this weekend. To celebrate and honour the singer on his milestone age, BBC Four are airing a special programme detailing his life and career. Want to get a head start before watching? Here's all the details you need on the legendary singer from his early career to his controversial love life…
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Tom Jones wife and controversial affairs
Tom Jones, who was born Tom Woodward, was married to Melinda (known as Linda) Trenchard, who was his childhood sweetheart, for 59 years before her passing in 2016. Tom has spoken candidly about his multiple affairs throughout his lengthy career and the impact this had on his wife. The singer has said in the past that he had been intimate with "hundreds" of other women a year at the height of his fame, despite being married to Linda throughout.
© Photo: Getty ImagesTom with his wife Linda
In a Sunday Times interview in 2015, Tom Jones revealed that his wife Linda found out about his affair with former Miss World Mary Wilson and furiously lashed out at him. "I stood there and took it," he stated. After Linda's death from cancer in 2016, Tom explained that he felt guilt for not doing more. He told the Mirror: "It's like, 'Why couldn't I have stopped it?' I was reading into the lyrics thinking 'Jesus Christ, was I partly to blame? Should I have woken up before?'" before adding: "Time is a healer. When something like that happens it's so devastating you don't know how to deal with everything. But you give it time... things sink in and you realise 'This is the way it's going to be.'"
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© Photo: Getty ImagesTom Jones pictured at the start of his career
Tom Jones children
Tom Jones is the father of two children and also has a grandson named Alex. Tom and Linda welcomed their son Mark, their only child together, in 1957. In the eighties, Mark started working in the music industry and became his dad's manager. One of the singer's affairs was with model Katherine Berkery. Although the extramarital relationship didn't last long, Katherine gave birth to son, Jonathan Berkley, and in 1989 a DNA test proved Tom was the father, however the father and son do not have a relationship.
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© Photo: Getty ImagesTom mingled with global superstars like Elvis
Tom Jones career history and net worth
Tom's career back in the early 60s as a frontman for Welsh band Tommy Scott and the Senators, before going solo. Tom then quickly rose to fame, performing in Las Vegas shows and eventually landed his own TV variety show This Is Tom Jones. In the same decade Tom enjoyed a string of top-ten hits, mingling with the likes in Elvis Presley, Little Richard and more. And the rest, they say, is history! Over his career he's won plenty of awards such as a Grammy, a Golden-Globe, a BRIT Award and many more. Thanks to his hugely successful career spanning the latter half of the 20th century, Tom has a net worth of over £200 million as of 2020 according to Celebrity Net Worth.
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