Jack Jones, balladeer famous for 'Love Boat' theme and 1960s hits like 'The Impossible Dream,' dies at 86
Jack Jones, a singer who found fame and chart success on the easy-listening side of the street in the 1960s, and who later became etched in television-watching America’s psyche with the “Love Boat” theme, died Wednesday at 86.
Jack Jones, a singer who found fame and chart success on the easy-listening side of the street in the 1960s, and who later became etched in television-watching America’s psyche with the “Love Boat” theme, died Wednesday at 86.
Jones died of leukemia at a hospital in Rancho Mirage, Calif., his wife of 15 years, Eleanora Jones, said.
Jones had hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, but his highest chart numbers could be found on what was then known as the easy listening chart, which later became adult contemporary. In the easy listening format, he had No. 1 singles with “The Race is On” in 1965, “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” in 1966 and “Lady” in 1967.
In particular, “The Impossible Dream” — a cover of the most popular song from the 1965 Broadway musical “Man of La Mancha” — became culturally ubiquitous, through Jones’ frequent TV appearances, even though it peaked at No. 35 on the Hot 100, where it had to compete against more clearly youthful fare. As it continued to be a staple of his live performances over the decades, Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote that his rendition of what had become a standard “transforms this sentimental war horse into an anthem of personal determination, not only to keep moving, but to get better.”
The “Love Boat” theme was heard by millions of Americans every week during that show’s 1977-86 run on ABC. Jones spoofed the song’s old-fashioned appeal — and his own — by singing it in a cameo as a lounge singer in the 1982 comedy “Airplane II.”
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