'Tiger' Tom Jones turns 80

Singer Robbie Williams calls him the ultimate legend. The Queen knighted him. He may indeed be Sir Tom, but onstage he's the "Tiger" — a nickname given to him by his female fans for his stage presence and powerful voice. People adored him on the casting show The Voice UK, where he was one of the original coaches. To this day, he continues to display his masculine charms.

With an expressive voice and plenty of sex appeal, he was bound to get noticed. When music manager Gordon Mills heard Tom's voice, he also heard the coffers ringing and took the young son of a Welsh miner under his wing. For the next 20 years he was Jones' manager and friend. It was Mills who suggested to the young Thomas John Woodward — born June 7, 1940 — that he change his name to Tom Jones.

Gordon Mills was dealt a flush hand with the boy from Wales. The first single, "Chills and Fever," was a flop but was backed up by "It's Not Unusual" — which promptly stormed the Charts, and not just in Britain. In 1965 Tom Jones was drafted to sing the theme song for "Thunderball," the James Bond movie (photo). "Delilah," "What's New Pussycat" and "The Green, Green Grass of Home" soon followed.

An unstoppable career: in 1967 Tom Jones sang for the Queen and the royal family, and the following year he accepted a gold record from Teldec Director Kurt Richter in Germany (picture). In 1969 he got his own TV show "This is Tom Jones" and invited other musicians — including Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles.

Screaming women and teenage girls out of control: cognizant of his sensual charisma, Tom Jones brandishes it liberally and puts his female fans under a spell. In the early 1970s, he drove crowds wild with "Delilah" or "She's a Lady." Decades later, in 2000, the 60-year-old was having the same effect on his earlier fans' daughters, with the hit "Sex Bomb."

With skin-tight pants and wide-open shirts, Tom Jones is the image of the sex symbol. But despite countless affairs, he's remained married to his childhood sweetheart Linda for nearly 60 years. In the late 70s the "Tiger" lost his roar — he was unpopular in the new post-hippie era. His record contract with RCA expired, and he moved his family to the US.

A well-oiled entertainment machine, Jones knew what the audience wanted. With his show-act run in Vegas, he got over a musical lull and found fresh verve in the 1980s, his music taking a glamorous turn. He began working with guitarist "Mr Twan" Duane Eddy and covered the famous Prince song "Kiss" in 1988: the beginning of a spectacular comeback.

Experimenting with different sounds in the '90s, he sang a number of duets. In 1999 he released the album "Reload," in which he reinterpreted rock and pop classics. Mousse T — a producer from Hanover — wrote "Sex Bomb" for Jones. The summer hit earned Jones the "Bambi" prize in 2000, for Comeback of the Year.

The image of "Tiger" the womanizer endured. In 2003, he told the German "Für Sie" women's magazine that he was not always happy about the excesses at his concerts. "Sometimes I pray before the concert that the ladies will keep their underwear to themselves, but then the bras and panties fly." He added that he never collected them.

Tom Jones no longer dyes his hair black, the silvery grey matches his age, but he has admitted to having had some plastic surgery. He hasn't released a new single for years, but he is also far from retiring as he turns 80. For 2021, concerts are once again on the horizon.