Legendary crooner Tom Jones plans to seek genetic testing to discover if any of his ancestors were black.
"A lot of people still think I'm black," he told The Times of New Zealand. "When I first came to America, people who had heard me sing on the radio would be surprised that I was white when they saw me. Because of my hair, a lot of black people still tell me that I'm just passing as white."
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Credit: Jennifer Brett
Credit: Jennifer Brett
The artist, born in Wales (and seen in a spectacularly retro-fabulous video clip above), performed at Atlanta Symphony Hall last year. He sat for an interview with AJC reporter Elizabeth Montgomery at the time.
My age has not caught up with me,” the then-73-year-old said.
He talked about touring the in the United States in the 1960s, amid a backdrop of racial strife.
"I walked into this hotel and I was holding hands with Shirley (Owens) of The Shirelles and she pushed my hand away," Jones said. "Later that day she said 'didn't you see those people looking? You can't do that down here.'"
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