North Florida Music Hall of Fame

Pat Boone

Charles Eugene “Pat” Boone is descended from Daniel Boone. His father, Archie Boone, studied architecture at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he met Jacksonville native Margaret Pritchard. The couple settled in Jacksonville, where Pat Boone was born in 1934. The Boones had been hoping for a girl, whom they intended to name Patricia; when Eugene was born, they nicknamed him Pat.

After a short time in Jacksonville, Archie Boone was offered a job by his uncle in Nashville; the Boones moved there when Pat was a young child. At 19, Pat Boone married Shirley Lee Foley, the daughter of country music star Red Foley. The couple eloped to Denton, Texas, where Boone attended North Texas State College. While in Denton, Boone won first prize at a talent show. This success led to a spot on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour, which in turn led to a regular stint on the Arthur Godfrey Show.

Boone quickly signed to Republic Records in 1954, which released his first single, “Two Hearts, Two Kisses.” Boone’s version was a cover of an R&B record that was toned down for white listeners, a modus operandi Boone would capitalize upon with great success. In 1955, he brought his winning formula to Randy Wood’s Nashville-based Dot Records, where he scored several huge hits, including a cover of Fats Domino’s “Aint That a Shame” (Boone, an English major, reportedly balked at the bad grammar and suggested changing the hook to “Isn’t That a Shame”). Boone also re-did two Little Richard tunes, “Tutti Frutti” (which Elvis Presley covered as well) and “Long Tall Sally.”

An ardent admirer of Bing Crosby, Boone conveyed a clean-cut image designed to appeal to both teens and parents; his white-buck shoes became a trademark of sorts. While appearing in many movies and hosting his own network TV show (The Pat Boone Show, ABC, 1957-1960), he stayed in college, graduating summa cum laude from Columbia University in 1958. Boone also wrote the theme for the 1960 Charlton Heston epic Exodus. After the British Invasion made Boone’s white bucks seem hopelessly dated, Boone regrouped with his family and began touring as a gospel act, the Boone Family (daughter Debby would go on to score a couple of pop hits in the 1970s). In the 1980s, he hosted a syndicated gospel show on radio. In the 1990s, Boone returned as host of a Christian-music TV show on Trinity Broadcasting Network, which was unceremoniously canceled after he released an album of hard-rock and heavy metal covers (In a Metal Mood, Hip-O Records, 1997) – performed tongue-in-cheek as big-band arrangements. To promote the album, Boone made a tandem appearance at the American Music Awards with guest Alice Cooper.

Boone, who has not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was, however, inducted into the Nashville-based Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2006, he released Pat Boone R&B Classics: We Are Family (Gold Label Records), which included appearances by Smokey Robinson; the Four Tops; Kool & the Gang; KC & the Sunshine Band; Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave); Sister Sledge; Earth, Wind & Fire; and James Brown.