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Tommy Sands (born Thomas Adrian Sands, August 27, 1937, Chicago, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 pop music
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
 singer and actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
.

into a musical family in Chicago, his father was a pianist
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 and his mother a big-band
Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the swing from the early 1930s until the late 1940s....
 singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third-largest city and the principal city of the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Louisiana, as well as being the 99th-largest city in the United States....
. Sands began playing the guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
 at age seven and within a year had a job performing twice weekly on a local radio station
Radio station

This article is about radio broadcasting, for other uses see Radio .Radio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device....
. He was only fifteen when Colonel Tom Parker
Colonel Tom Parker

"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker , was an entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley. For many years Parker claimed to have been U.S....
 heard about him and signed him to RCA Records
RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1983 and a partner from 1983 to 1986....
.






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Tommy Sands (born Thomas Adrian Sands, August 27, 1937, Chicago, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 pop music
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
 singer and actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
.

Career

Born into a musical family in Chicago, his father was a pianist
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 and his mother a big-band
Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the swing from the early 1930s until the late 1940s....
 singer. While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third-largest city and the principal city of the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Louisiana, as well as being the 99th-largest city in the United States....
. Sands began playing the guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
 at age seven and within a year had a job performing twice weekly on a local radio station
Radio station

This article is about radio broadcasting, for other uses see Radio .Radio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device....
. He was only fifteen when Colonel Tom Parker
Colonel Tom Parker

"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker , was an entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley. For many years Parker claimed to have been U.S....
 heard about him and signed him to RCA Records
RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1983 and a partner from 1983 to 1986....
. His initial recordings
Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanics inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects....
 achieved little in the way of sales but in early 1957 he was given the opportunity to star in an episode of "Kraft Television Theatre
Kraft Television Theatre

Kraft Television Theatre is an American Dramatic programming/Anthology series that began 7 May 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year....
". He played the part of a singer who was very similar to Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was an United Statesn singer, actor, and musician. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as "Elvis", and is also sometimes referred to as "List of honorific titles in popular music" or "The King"....
, with guitar, bouffant hair, and excitable teenage fans. On the show, his song presentation of a Joe Allison
Joe Allison

Joe Marion Allison was an United States Hall of Fame songwriter, a radio and television personality, a record producer, and a country music business executive....
 composition called "Teenage Crush" went over big with the young audience and, released as a 45 rpm single
Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
 by Capitol Records
Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States-based record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood, California and New York City as part of Capitol Music Group....
, it went to No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard Single popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on airplay and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the airplay tracking-week runs from Wednesday to Tuesday....
 record chart
Record chart

Record chart are a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s.

Sands' sudden fame brought an offer to sing at the Academy Awards
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
 show and his teen idol
Teen idol

?Teen idols refers to someone idolized by teens; a teen idol is often young but in many cases no longer teenaged. Often, a teen idol is an actor or a pop singer, but some sports figures have had an appeal to teenagers....
 looks landed him a motion-picture
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 contract to star in a 1958 musical drama called Sing, Boy, Sing. In 1960, he married Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an United States singer and actor. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra from his first wife, Nancy Barbato, and remains known for her 1966 signature song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
 and for a time they were the toast of Hollywood. Sands performed in several films including Babes in Toyland
Babes in Toyland (1961 film)

Babes in Toyland is a 1961 in film Christmas musical film in Technicolor, film director by Jack Donohue, produced by Walt Disney, and distributed to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution....
 in 1961, Ensign Pulver
Ensign Pulver

Ensign Pulver is a 1964 United States film and a sequel to the 1955 film Mister Roberts . The movie features Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau, Tommy Sands, Millie Perkins, Kay Medford, Peter Marshall , Jack Nicholson, Richard Gautier, George Lindsey, James Farentino, and James Coco....
 in 1964, and None But the Brave
None But the Brave

None But the Brave, also known as in Japan, is a 1965 in film war film starring Clint Walker, Frank Sinatra, Tatsuya Mihashi, Takeshi Kato, Brad Dexter, and Tommy Sands....
 in 1965 playing a Marine Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant is the lowest Officer military rank in many armed forces.In British English the rank is pronounced second /l?f't?n?nt/ , while in American English it is pronounced second /lu't?n?nt/ ....
 but both his singing and film career had faded by the 1970s.

He was divorced from Sinatra in 1965 and has a daughter, model Jessica Sands, born in 1977 from another relationship.

Sands' pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame

The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on March 21, 1997 to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering United States music genre....
.

External links