Grammy Award-winning singer Jack Jones has died.
Jones is best known for singing the classic lyrics “love boat. Love, exciting and new. Come aboard. We’re expecting you” from the theme song for the hit sitcom “The Love Boat.”
According to KESQ, Jones died on Oct. 23. He was 86 years old.
Despite being known for “The Love Boat” theme song, Jones won Grammy awards for his hit songs, “Wives and Lovers” and “Lollipops and Roses.”
Just heard that Jack jones has passed away. He was one of the last of the old school crooners, a true son of Los Angeles and a class act. pic.twitter.com/ROBadaI8So
— Giant Baba (@Juggleguy76) October 24, 2024
In an interview with Las Vegas Magazine in 2016, Jones credited his long life and career with his decision to stop smoking “40 years ago.”
“If I hadn’t stopped smoking about 40 years ago, I wouldn’t be singing let along being alive,” Jones said at the time. “It’s the worst thing you can do to your voice, so I’m very grateful that whatever it was that made me want to quit, that I went through with it.”
In that same interview, Jones also said legendary Frank Sinatra inspired him to become a singer.
He told Las Vegas magazine that he was “buddies” with Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, who invited him to a concert at his school.
“Nancy was a buddy of mine and she said, ‘Hey, come on down. My dad’s gonna sing.’ I said, ‘What?’ That was the day I decided I wanted to do that for the rest of my life,” Jones explained.
His stepdaughter Nicole Whitty told The Hollywood Reporter that Jones died “at Eisenhower Medical in Rancho Mirage, California, after a two-year battle with leukemia.”