Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host, and philanthropist. One of the most popular American recording artists of the 1950s and early 1960s, he has sold nearly 50 million records, charted 38 Top 40 hits in the United States, and appeared in numerous feature films.
Boone was a top draw behind Elvis Presley in popularity during the 1950s,and was ranked by Billboard as one of the top charting artists between 1955 and 1995. He spent 220 consecutive weeks on the Billboard charts with one or more songs each week.
Through the 1960s, Boone remained one of the most popular entertainers in the United States, becoming a teen idol positioned as an alternative to the perceived hedonism of rock and roll, owing to his work as a singer, writer, actor, and religious motivational speaker. In 1957, at age 23, Boone began hosting the half-hour ABC variety series The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, which aired 115 episodes from 1957 to 1960. Guests included Cliff Richard, Nat King Cole, Edie Adams, Andy Williams, Pearl Bailey, and Johnny Mathis. His cover versions of rhythm and blues songs contributed to the mainstream popularity of rock and roll. Elvis Presley opened for Boone in Cleveland in 1955, and the two later became close friends.
As an author, Boone published the 1958 advice book 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty, which became a number-one bestseller. In the 1960s, he turned his attention to gospel music and was later inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He continues to perform as a singer, appear as a motivational speaker, and work as a television personality and conservative political commentator.
Charles Eugene Boone (known as Pat) was born on June 1, 1934, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Margaret Virginia (née Pritchard) and Archie Altman Boone. When he was two years old, the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was raised. He graduated in 1952 from David Lipscomb High School in Nashville. His younger brother, Cecil Boone (1935–2023), who performed under the name Nick Todd, was born exactly one year later on June 1 and became a pop singer in the 1950s before working as a church music leader.
In a 2007 interview on The 700 Club, Boone stated that he is a great-great-great-great-grandson of American pioneer Daniel Boone.
Boone primarily attended David Lipscomb College (later Lipscomb University) in Nashville. He continued his higher education at
North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in Denton, Texas, before ultimately graduating with a bachelors degree in 1958 from the School of General Studies at Columbia University, magna cum laude.
Boone was a student at the California School of Artistic Whistling, which was founded and run by Agnes Woodward. Boone was a whistler since he was a boy, and did the whistling in his song Love Letters in the Sand.
Boone began his career performing at Sunday concerts in Nashville's Centennial Park. He began recording in April 1953 for Republic Records (not to be confused with the modern label of the same name), and in 1955 signed with Dot Records. That year, his cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" became a hit, setting the tone for the early stage of his career, which often involved covering rhythm and blues songs by Black artists for a predominantly white American audience. Dot's owner, Randy Wood, had released an R&B single by the Griffin Brothers in 1951 titled "Tra La La-a", unrelated to the later LaVern Baker song of the same name, and sought to reuse it after the original failed to chart. It became the B-side of Boone's debut single, "Two Hearts Two Kisses", originally recorded by the Charms.
In 1956, Boone scored a number-one single with his cover of "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter, which had previously been recorded by Nat King Cole. According to a 1957 opinion poll of high school students, Boone was favored nearly two-to-one over Elvis Presley among boys and almost three-to-one among girls. During the late 1950s, he was a regular on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee, hosted by his father-in-law, Red Foley. He cultivated a safe, wholesome, and advertiser-friendly image, which earned him a long-term endorsement deal with General Motors. In the late 1950s he succeeded Dinah Shore in promoting Chevrolet, singing the company's advertising jingle "See the USA in your Chevrolet". GM also sponsored Boone's television program, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.
Many of Boone's most successful recordings were covers of songs first released by Black artists. In addition to "Ain't That a Shame", he recorded "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard, "At My Front Door" by The El Dorados, the blues ballad "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter, "I'll Be Home" by the Flamingos, and "Don't Forbid Me" by Charles Singleton. Boone's versions were part of a broader trend in the 1950s in which white performers recorded rhythm and blues songs for mainstream audiences. Some critics have cited this practice as an example of cultural whitewashing, arguing that it sanitized the music for white listeners and limited recognition for the original Black artists.
Boone wrote the lyrics to the instrumental theme of the 1960 film Exodus, composed by Ernest Gold, which Boone titled "This Land Is Mine".
As a conservative Christian, Boone declined songs and film roles that he felt compromised his beliefs, including one with Marilyn Monroe. In his early film April Love (1957), director Henry Levin asked him to kiss co-star Shirley Jones; since it would be his first onscreen kiss, Boone first sought his wife's approval before filming the scene. He founded his own production company, Cooga Mooga Productions.
From 1955 to 1957, Boone was a regular on Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, and later hosted the Thursday-night variety program The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. In 1959, his likeness was licensed to DC Comics, appearing first in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane No. 9 (May 1959) before headlining his own five-issue comic series from September 1959 to May 1960.
Boone popularized Speedy Gonzales in a 1962 single. It peaked at the No. 6 Billboard Hot 100 position in 1962 during a total chart run of 13 weeks, doing better in many national charts in Europe, where it sold a million copies.
In the early 1960s, he authored a series of self-help books for adolescents, beginning with 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty. The British Invasion which hit the United States in 1964, curtailed his run as a hitmaker, though he continued recording throughout the decade. In 1966, Boone competed in the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, performing "Mai mai mai Valentina" with Giorgio Gaber and "Se tu non fossi qui" with Peppino Gagliardi. During the trip, he visited Ferrari headquarters in Maranello, intending to buy a Superfast, but was persuaded by Enzo Ferrari to instead purchase a four-door Ferrari 2+2 for his family. Boone later recalled selling the car—"the Ferrari (I) didn't like"—to comedian Tom Smothers.
In the 1970s, he switched to gospel and country; he also continued performing in other media. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Boone family toured as gospel singers. The family also made gospel albums, such as The Pat Boone Family and The Family Who Prays.