Jack Jones, Crooner of ‘The Love Boat’ Theme Song, Dies

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Jack Jones, the pop singer who was a steady presence on the Hot 100 throughout the ’60s but was ultimately best known to audiences for singing the theme song to the comedy-drama TV series The Love Boat, died October 23, 2024. His death, at age 86, at his home in Palm Springs, Calif., followed a battle with leukemia, which was originally diagnosed in November 2022.

Jones was born John Allan Jones in Hollywood on January 14, 1938, the son of actor-singer Allen Jones and actress Irene Hervey. His biography notes that he gave up playing track and football to devote himself to a serious study of the arts. Los Angeles’ University High School was attended by teenagers from all economic walks of life. Ever conscious of his privileged life as the son of a famous show business family, he went out of his way to play down this part of his life with his friends, not knowing that after his graduation and parents’ divorce, he would be financially strapped and have to start from scratch like most of the other students.

His professional debut was a brief stint as part of his father’s act at the Thunderbird Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas when he was just 19 years old. He went out on his own three weeks later, working odd jobs, including gas station attendant, to support himself while pursuing his singing career.

His first break came when a demo he recorded found its way to Capitol Records. While with the label he recorded a few singles and an album. After he left the label, he was discovered by Pete King, a producer and artist for Kapp Records. Still working at his “day job” as a gas station attendant when his first album on Kapp was released, Jones is said to have been surprised to hear one of his cuts playing on the car radio while washing a customer’s windshield.

As his career gained momentum, Jones developed a deep appreciation for well-constructed songs that also had emotional appeal, which led him to record works by the greatest balladeers of all time: Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen, Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman. He was inspired by great jazz instrumentalists he discovered during his teen years, such as Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, Buddy Rich and Count Basie.

Jones earned two Grammys for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance with his singles “Lollipops and Roses,” by Anthony Velona, and Burt Bacharach/Hal David’s “Wives and Lovers.” (The latter was also nominated for “Record of the Year.) In 1989, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, close to where his father’s star is located.

Jones charted at least 20 songs on the Hot 100, with two reaching the top 15: 1963’s “Wives and Lovers,” his highest-charting single at #14, as well as his 1965 recording of “The Race is On,” which reached #15, the same year that George Jones’ definitive version was released.

Jones became a familiar face to TV audiences throughout the ’60s and ’70s with appearances on variety shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, The Andy Williams Show, This Is Tom Jones and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

But it was his 1977 recording of “Love Boat” (also known as “The Love Boat Theme” and “The Love Boat”) that earned him the most attention. The song, written by Paul Williams and Charles Fox, aired during the TV series’ original run through 1986. Its single never charted on the Hot 100.