Tom Jones

Ever gracious, trim and handsome at age 55, Tom Jones shows no visible signs of wearing down. Thirty-two years after his breakthrough single "It's Not Unusual" reached No. 1 on the pop charts, the sex symbol from Wales struts on, showing off that stellar tenor of his and still teasing audiences with his campy pelvic thrusts and grinds.

For 6 1/2 hours, Hilda Gauthier patiently sat on a pale blue park bench at the Ventura County Fairgrounds waiting for the man who makes her 60-year-old heart flutter--Tom Jones. She had seen him--twice--in Las Vegas. She had seen him on television. And now the pop legend was center stage at the 1995 Ventura County Fair, and a $3 senior ticket would put her in the front row to ogle her suave and sweaty songbird. "He's sexy!"

The task I set myself was this: To plumb the Tom Jones phenomenon. Because, frankly, I don't get it. Tom Jones--yes, the same Tom Jones who sang "It's Not Unusual" and got pelted with push-up bras and room keys--is not just back, he's back with a large and growing audience of people young enough to be the children of the lingerie tossers.

What's new Tom Jones? Well, the 54-year-old singer has a new CD out on Interscope Records, "The Lead and How to Swing It," and recently returned from a successful tour of England. The Welsh sex symbol also is host with country singer Lorrie Morgan and rapper-actress Queen Latifah of the 22nd annual "American Music Awards," which airs Monday on ABC. Dick Clark is executive producer of the three-hour special from Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium.

Tom Jones went into Lillie's Bordello looking for a drink and found a new career as a consulting songwriter. It was about four years ago, and the Welsh singer was in Dublin for an award show when he headed over to Lillie's, the famed Grafton Street club. "I saw Bono and said hello and asked him if he wanted to come upstairs for a drink and a chat. We got to drinking and talking there, and I asked him if he would write me a song. He said, 'What I'd love to do is write a song about you.

Tom Jones, 62, a former UCLA sprinter who was the 1966 NCAA champion in the 220-yard dash and a longtime college track and field coach, died Wednesday at his home in Gainesville, Fla., after a long battle with cancer, his son Chris said. Jones had coached the women's track and field team at the University of Florida for the last 15 years.

The Life After: "Shooter," which arrives Tuesday on DVD, was Mark Wahlberg's first film to be released since receiving a supporting actor Oscar nomination this year for "The Departed." Though "Shooter" received generally mixed reviews, Wahlberg was singled out for his strong performance as Bob Lee Swagger, a former Marine Corps sniper who leaves the military after his buddy is killed in a mission that goes awry.

It's not unusual for Tom Jones to meet Queen Elizabeth II -- but being knighted was something special. The 65-year-old singer, a coal miner's son from the Welsh town of Pontypridd, received the honor Wednesday at Buckingham Palace in London. Jones, known for hits including "What's New Pussycat," "She's a Lady" and "It's Not Unusual," said he had met the British monarch "six or seven times, maybe more," starting with a royal charity performance in 1966.