Jack Jones, celebrated for performing the iconic theme song of The Love Boat and earning multiple Grammy awards, passed away at 86 following a prolonged battle with leukemia. He died Wednesday evening at Eisenhower Medical in Rancho Mirage, California, as confirmed by his stepdaughter Nicole Whitty, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Born into an entertainment dynasty in Los Angeles on January 14, 1938, Jones came from a talented family. His mother, Irene Hervey, garnered an Emmy nomination during her five-decade career in film and television, while his father, Allan Jones, achieved fame in productions including Show Boat (1936) and several Marx Brothers features, particularly A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937). Notably, Jones arrived on the same day his father recorded “The Donkey Serenade” for RCA Victor, according to the outlet.
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Jones’s signature contribution to popular culture arrived in 1977 when he recorded The Love Boat theme. For eight seasons and more than 200 episodes of the ABC series, his smooth vocals invited viewers to “Come aboard” with the memorable lyrics “Love, exciting and new,” establishing a cultural staple. The song, crafted by Charles Fox and Paul Williams, redefined Jones’s career. Dionne Warwick later took over vocal duties in season nine.
“Because of The Love Boat theme, everything was great on ships after that,” Jones told Las Vegas Magazine in 2016. “I did six weeks a year. They gave me the best suite on the ship, and it was the S.S. Norway. We just had a great time.”
Before his television fame, Jones established himself as an accomplished recording artist. After securing his initial contract with Capitol Records in 1959, he transitioned to Kapp Records, where he achieved considerable success. His rendition of “Lollipops and Roses,” recorded while on two weeks’ leave from the U.S. Air Force Reserve, earned him his first Grammy for best male solo vocal performance in 1962, followed by another Grammy for “Wives and Lovers” in 1964, the publication reports.
The latter song’s lyrics, which advised women to maintain their appearance for their husbands — including the line “Don’t think because there’s a ring on your finger, you needn’t try anymore” — became increasingly controversial over time. By the 1990s, public sentiment had shifted dramatically, leading to calls for the song to be banned. Jones responded by modifying the lyrics to satirize male behavior, though he continued to perform the song throughout his career.
Jones addressed the backlash during a 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Times regarding the controversy: “Since it’s a politically incorrect song, I start it out with a disclaimer,” he explained. “I hear that women still call up radio stations, angry that such a sexist song is being played. It’s now part of history, it won a Grammy, and I meant no harm when I did it. It made my career, and I’m grateful for that.”
His voice also graced other notable themes, including “This World Is Yours” for the 1968 film Anzio and the title song for 1963’s Love with the Proper Stranger. More recently, younger audiences might recognize him from “Into The Unknown,” the theme for Cartoon Network‘s Over The Garden Wall.
His personal life included six marriages, most notably to actress Jill St. John from 1967 to 1969. His subsequent marriages included Gretchen Roberts (1970), Kathy Simmons (1976-1982), and Kim Ely (1982-2005), with whom he had daughter Nicole in 1991. He also shared daughter Crystal Thomas with Lee Fuller. Jones spent his final years in the Coachella Valley with Eleonora, his sixth wife, whom he married in 2009.
A Las Vegas headliner for seven decades, Jones released over 50 albums and continued performing into his eighties. His artistic philosophy centered on emotional connection: “I want a song to make the audience laugh or make it cry, make a very poignant statement,” he explained to the LA Times, referencing John Sebastian’s lyrics to “I Had a Dream”: “I had a dream, I dreamed we were all, all right,” which he described as “such a wonderful thought.” His final album, Every Other Day I Have the Blues,” was released in 2021.
