Singing legend Jack Jones, best known for his theme song from the iconic TV show ‘The Love Boat’, has passed away. He was 86 years old, and had been suffering from leukemia for two years. His stepdaughter, Nicole Whitty, told The Hollywood Reporter about his death.
Jack Jones was born into an acting-singing family. His actress mother was Irene Harvey and his singer/actor father was Allan Jones.A great voice in music shot him to stardom in the 1960’s as he took home two Grammy Awards for his interpretations of “Lollipops and Roses” and “Wives and Lovers.” In the course of his lifetime, he had five nominations at the Grammy’s, one coming in 1999 for the album ‘Jack Jones Paints a Tribute to Tony Bennett’.
Smooth and suave, Jack sent many of his songs to the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but some of his more popular songs were “Lady,” “The Race Is On,” “Dear Heart,” and “The Impossible Dream (The Quest).” But people mostly remember him for the theme song to ‘The Love Boat’ of the 1980s. His warm, relaxed performance on the song correctly captured the lighthearted theme of the show, which spoke of love and adventure with lyrics going so far as to say love is “exciting and new” and life’s “sweetest reward.” Jack’s version was used for the first eight seasons of the show, and then Dionne Warwick took over for the final season.
Besides *The Love Boat*, Jack provided voiceover for other theme songs, such as 1968’s *Anzio*. Fans of the enigmatic, mystical Cartoon Network animated mystery series *Over The Garden Wall* may recognize his voice on the show’s theme song “Into The Unknown,” which has a dedicated following.
In an interview for TV Land Awards in 2010, Jack did mention that how a theme song of ‘The Love Boat’ continued to maintain their likability even today. He admires it by first thinking that the show was not going to last as he said in his words, “I didn’t know who would watch a show about a cruise ship, but they did, and here we are. I had no idea it would become such a big thing.”
Not many voices evoke the memories like Jack Jones will be remembered for his incredible voice, contributions to music, and the unforgettable songs he gave to television and film.
