Charles Eugene Patrick Boone, 1 June
1934,
Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Boone sold more
records during the late 50s than any other
artist except Elvis Presley. From 1955 to
date,
only six artists (Presley, the Beatles,
James
Brown, Elton John, Rolling Stones and
Stevie
Wonder) are ranked above him in terms of
total
singles sales and their relative chart
positions.
Boone had a total of 60 hits in the US
singles
charts during his career, six of which
reached
number 1
He appeared on the
national Ted Mack Amateur
Hour and Arthur
Godfrey's Talent Scouts
television
programmes in the early 50s, and had
his own radio
programme on Nashville's WSIX. In
1953, he married
Shirley Foley, daughter of country
star Red Foley.
Boones moved to Denton, Texas,
and began raising
a family of four daughters.
Boone had given up
rock and switched to ballads.
Among the biggest
sellers were "Friendly
Persuasion (Thee I
Love)", "Don't Forbid Me",
"Love Letters In
The Sand" and "April Love".
Some of Boone's
recordings by this time were
taken from films
in which he starred. He also
frequently
appeared on television, toured the
country, and was
the subject of magazine
articles praising
his positive image and outlook.
Boone even wrote
several books giving advice
to
teenagers.
