Pat Boone

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia   Pat Boone born Charles Eugene Patrick Boone on June 1 1934 is an American singer actor and writer who was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s He covered black artists songs when part of the country was segregated and sold more copies than his black counterparts He sold over 45 million albums had 38 Top 40 hits and appeared in more than 12 Hollywood movies Boones talent as a singer and actor combined with his oldfashioned values contributed to his popularity in the early rock and roll era He continues to perform and speak as a motivational speaker a television personality a conservative political commentator and a preacher According to Billboard Boone was the second biggest charting artist of the late 1950s behind only Elvis Presley but ahead of Ricky Nelson and The Platters and was ranked at No 9behind The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney but ahead of artists such as Aretha Franklin and The Beach Boysin its listing of the Top 100 Top 40 Artists 19551995 Boone still holds the Billboard record for spending 220 consecutive weeks on the charts with more than one song At the age of twentythree he began hosting a halfhour ABC variety television series The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom which aired for 115 episodes 19571960 Many musical performers including Edie Adams Andy Williams Pearl Bailey and Johnny Mathis made appearances on the show His cover versions of rhythm and blues hits had a noticeable effect on the development of the broad popularity of rock and roll During his tours in the 1950s Elvis Presley was one of his opening acts As a prolific author Boone had a No 1 bestseller in the 1950s Twixt Twelve and Twenty PrenticeHall In the 1960s he focused on gospel music and is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame Description above from the Wikipedia article Pat Boone licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia