An Evening With Pat Boone

In the years immediately prior to the British Invasion, only one performer rivaled the chart dominance of Elvis Presley, and that was Pat Boone. Boone was the very essence of wholesome American values. At a time when the rise of rock and roll was viewed as a sign of the apocalypse, he made the music appear safe and non-threatening, earning some 38 Top 40 hits in the process. Born Charles Eugene Patrick Boone in Jacksonville, Fla., Boone made his recording debut in 1954 on Republic Records, followed a year later by his Dot Records debut “Two Hearts, Two Kisses.” At the end of 1955 he notched his first No. 1 hit with a rendition of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame.” Boone later recorded numerous songs originating from the likes of Little Richard, the El Dorados, the Flamingos and Ivory Joe Hunter. From 1956–1963 Boone accumulated nearly 54 chart appearances, many of them with two-sided hits. His most notable smashes included the No. 1 records “Don’t Forbid Me,” “Love Letters in the Sand” and “April Love,” all three issued in 1957. That same year he began hosting his own ABC television series “The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom,”  which featured a number of top-name guests, including Ella Fitzgerald, Nat “King” Cole, Connie Frances, Roy Rogers, Frankie Avalon, and Tony Bennett, among many others. Among his numerous awards and accolades, Boone has sold 45 million records worldwide, has 13 gold singles, two gold albums and a platinum album. He’s starred in 15 movies, including 1957’s Bernardine, and he has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Boone is the father of GRAMMY-winning singer Debby Boone, who topped the charts in 1977 with “You Light Up My Life.” In 2005 Boone celebrated his 50th anniversary as a recording artist by releasing five new projects in one year, each a different genre of music in which he’d had significant success. To commemorate Boone’s 60th anniversary, Pat Boone: Duets debuts June 9 on limited-edition signed and numbered vinyl, and features Boone dueting with the crème of the American Songbook, from Ella Fitzgerald to Nat “King” Cole, Connie Francis, Andy Williams, and even his wife of 60 years, Shirley. For this special collection, Boone has hand-picked 13 never-before-released live recordings from “The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.”  The GRAMMY Museum welcomes Pat Boone to the Clive Davis Theater for an intimate discussion and special performance surrounding his life and music career, moderated by Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museum.