Sir Tom Jones is an iconic Welsh singer that has been showing off his incredible vocal abilities since the mid-1960s. With songs such as “It’s Not Unusual,” “Delilah” and “She’s A Lady,” many have grown to love and adore Jones and his beautiful talent in the musical department. His voice is rich and deep, making for the perfect baritone sound as he has sung about love and heartbreak over his many years in the music industry.
Along with his illustrious career in the music industry, Jones has also shown off his talents as an actor and was the host of his own television series called “This Is Tom Jones.” His outstanding contributions to the arts even led to him being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005. Jones has recently been making waves in the industry once again for his participation as a judge on “The Voice UK,” a competition series that he has been on since 2012, with the exception of the year 2016.
During his long career, Jones also managed to find love and was married to Melinda Rose Trenchard — better known as Linda — from March 2, 1957, until her death on Apr. 10, 2016. Despite their long marriage, there were many difficulties along the way. Their main obstacle was Jones’ alleged infidelity, which was eventually proven one day in court after a paternity test was ordered on behalf of Katherine Berkery, a model that Jones had a brief fling with in the late 1980s.
Keep reading to find out more about Jones and why his son, Jonathan Jones Berkery, was homeless and had to sing on the streets to make money despite being proven to be Jones’ child.
Born on June 7, 1940, in South Wales, Jones grew up as the son of Freda Jones and coal miner Thomas Woodward. He was raised in the era of listening to Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Brook Benton, so it’s no surprise the singer developed a passion for soul music. He sang everywhere, including at family gatherings, weddings and his school choir. While he didn’t really enjoy going to school or playing sports, singing helped Jones gain confidence, especially as he developed his skills more and more. This led him to eventually land the spot of front-man in the beat group Tommy Scott and the Senators in 1963.
When he was 12, though, Jones was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). However, it ultimately helped Jones see that he needed to lead a different career path than that of his father. “My father was a coal miner, you see, so that knocked that out,” he explained. “It was a blessing in disguise. I would have become a coal miner, so that stopped me. Yeah, for two years, from 1954 I was bedridden.”
Jones continued:
“And I could see my wife (to be) outside playing with the kids and I’m like oh my god! I remember feeling an ache in my chest – you know what they say about heartache? Honestly.”
After he landed a recording contract with Decca Records, he came out with his first single titled “Chills and Fever,” and although it didn’t do well, his next single, “It’s Not Unusual,” became an international hit. In fact, it’s now Jones’ signature song.
Once he had established his music career, Jones would also become popular on TV and even headlined his own show, “This is Tom Jones,” which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Jones still released songs throughout the 1970s and ’80s, including hits such as “She’s a Lady,” “A Boy From Nowhere” and “Say You’ll Stay Until Tomorrow.”
Later in his career, Jones even appeared on sitcoms such as “The Simpsons” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Perhaps it was all of his previous work on television that prepared him for being a coach on the TV show “The Voice UK.” For almost 10 years, Jones has been a part of the franchise and lent his expertise to singers on the popular program. He’s even led two of his mentees to win the program, Leanne Mitchell in 2012 and Ruti Olajugbagbe in 2018.
With plenty of songs that depict relationships in his large discography, such as “It’s Not Unusual” and “Delilah,” it wasn’t odd that Jones would find everlasting love outside of his incredible career. Despite the issues that had come up in the press and alleged compilations within their marriage, Jones and Trenchard were married for an astonishing 59 years, and together they had a son named Mark Woodward.
Sadly, in 2016, Trenchard lost her battle with lung cancer and passed away. Jones opened up about how hard it was to grieve the loss.
“When my wife passed away — God bless her — I didn’t know whether I would make it,” he said, as per Hello Magazine. “There were days when I felt I couldn’t get up, you don’t want to get out of bed to start with.”
Prior to Trenchard’s death, Jones had talked about how much they loved each other as a couple, despite rumors that he had multiple affairs during their marriage.
“(The affairs were) never discussed, I was never put on the spot,” he said. “Linda is a wonderful person and she would never put me on the spot. She loves being married to me and I love being married to her.”
In his autobiography “Over The Top and Back,” the crooner revealed that he and Trenchard had fallen for one another when they were just 12 years old, as per Express. They spent much of their time together in Los Angeles while Jones was busy touring and living in the spotlight, but Trenchard had wanted to return home to the UK. “Linda wanted to come back to Britain, she was always homesick,” Jones explained.
Unfortunately, Trenchard got too sick to fly back home and passed away before she was able to return.
When he appeared on “The Voice UK” in 2019, Jones was reminded of his late wife when contestant Deana Walmsley sang a song that brought back some loving memories. While Walmsley sang “Autumn Leaves,” Jones couldn’t help but get a bit teary-eyed and emotional as he watched the performance. Jones later explained the reason behind why he had been so overwhelmed by the song.
“The song means a lot to me,” he said on This Morning in 2019. “I recorded it on my first album and every time I heard it the song seems to mean more.”
He went on to explain how it brought back memories of Trenchard. “That song reminds me of when my wife passed away three years ago,” Jones said. “Things (memories) were in my mind and she (Deana) nailed it. That was why I got so emotional and I could hardly speak.” Being a famous man in the world of music, Jones shockingly revealed that he struggled to sing following his wife’s death.
“When my wife passed away, I didn’t think I could sing,” he said. “When you’re emotional, you can’t sing, your voice closes up.”
Despite struggling to find his voice at first, Jones learned to use his emotions and put them into his performances. “Feeling emotional; use it to your advantage and put it into the song,” he explained. He continued and said that it took him months to really sing again, as it was an incredibly emotional process. Jones has shown that even though his wife is no longer with him, her memory will always live on.
Although Jones has been more upfront about how he views his past, he is still adamant that he is a good person at heart. In his book “Letter To My Younger Self,” Jones said:
“I don’t regret anything. All in all, no matter what happened, my marriage is still solid, and my son still loves me. I haven’t done anything bad in my life.”
While he may not have discussed the affairs with his wife, they were thoroughly covered by the media. Mary Wilson of The Supremes also spoke of having a two-year relationship with Jones.
Wilson opened up about the affair in her biography “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme,” which was released in 1986. She said that their relationship ended after Jones refused to leave his wife. Wilson was heartbroken and said she always felt love towards Jones even after the relationship ended.
It was also said that Jones had an affair with Marjorie Wallace in 1976 after they were seen kissing on a beach in Barbados. Wallace’s relationship with Jones is among the many groupies and models Jones came across while touring the world. One of these models was Katherine Berkery, who claimed to have given birth to Jones’ son in June 1988. Jones denied this until a court-ordered paternity test was issued and proved that Jonathan Jones Berkery was, in fact, his child.
In 1989, after the judge finally ruled that Jones was the father of Jonathan and required to pay child support, Katherine began crying and reportedly told her then 1-year-old son, “Now, you have a father.”
Unfortunately, Jones was not the kind of father that Jonathan needed. He repeatedly denied Jonathan was his son despite it being proven in court. The music icon paid for child support for all 18 years but never once spoke to his son.
The Daily Mail reported that Jones was ordered to pay £1,700 (about $2,000) a month for Jonathan during the first 18 years of his life. However, it was evident that Jones could have paid quite a bit more and helped his child out, considering his multi-million dollar fortune.
Celebrity Net Worth stated that Jones is worth about $300 million.
Jones rarely spoke about Jonathan at all until 2008, when he said about the birth of his child, “It wasn’t something I had planned. If I had planned it, I would have done something more than just financially. But it wasn’t. I was tricked, really. I just fell for it.” The singer added, “I just fell for the seduction.”
Jonathan, who had always grown up knowing that Jones was his father, longed for a relationship with him. After hearing those words in 2008, Jonathan was deeply affected. “Those words hurt. It wasn’t my choice to be born. You don’t get to be as famous as my father without being prepared to hurt people along the way,” he said in response.
After growing up without a father figure, Jonathan had a hard time in life. He ended up living in a homeless shelter as an adult, with only a part-time job stacking shelves. He also made money by singing his father’s songs on the street with a sign that read, “I need money, please help.” He shared, “Not having a father growing up was tough. All I ever wanted was his love. People think I look and sound like a younger version of my dad. I sing all his songs. People stop and stare as soon as I start singing.”
According to Wales Online, Jonathan tried to get in contact with his father, but Jones appeared to show no interest in connecting with his son.
However, it’s evident that Jonathan has followed at least somewhat in Jones’ path as he has a true love for music. He even admitted that Jones inspired him to pursue his own career in pop music.
“It would be weird to meet him, but kind of cool,” Jonathan said. “I think it would probably be in the future, though, not right now.” He continued, “I haven’t really got anything I want to ask him, except I would want to know what’s going on with our relationship. I’m not sure what I would gain, but I’m just curious to meet him.”
The Daily Mail reported that Jonathan even thought about auditioning for “The Voice” so he would finally be able to talk to Jones face-to-face, albeit there’s a chance he wouldn’t have the kindest words to say. “I used to imagine waiting for him to swivel around on his chair, then seeing me and I’d put up my middle finger,” he explained.
Jonathan added, “I even used to think about going to one of his concerts and disrupting it. But that really isn’t me.”
At the end of the day, though, Jonathan made it clear that all he had wanted was a relationship with his father. “I’d like to talk to him about normal stuff, like: ‘How’s your life been? This is mine,’” he stated. “I want to see him before it’s too late.”
Jonathan concluded: “For years I was angry and I didn’t want to see him. I was conflicted. Now I know life is too short. I need to get to know him. I just hope he feels the same.”
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