Tom Jones wants DNA test to find if he has black ancestry
Tom Jones says he is ready to take a DNA test to find out once and for all if he has black ancestry.
LONDON (AFP) - After being told that he is "just passing as white", Welsh crooner Tom Jones says he is ready to take a DNA test to find out once and for all if he has black ancestry.
The star, whose hits include "It s Not Unusual", "Delilah" and "Sex Bomb", is often thought to have black heritage for his booming baritone voice, tight curly hair and olive complexion.
"A lot of people still think I m black. When I first came to America, people who had heard me sing on the radio would be surprised that I was white when they saw me," Jones was quoted as saying by the Times.
"When I was born, my mother came out in big dark patches all over her body. They asked if she had any black blood and she said she didn t know. I m going to get my DNA tested. I want to find out," he said.
DNA tests claiming to track ancestral lineage are now easily accessible and affordable.
The hip-swivelling singer has enjoyed a long career as a sex symbol but now bemoans feeling objectified, saying he can "never predict when the knickers are going to get thrown".
Born Thomas Jones Woodward in South Wales to a coal-mining family, the 75-year-old singer discovered his musical talent as a child, his career spanning more than half a century with hundreds of records to his name.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006.
