Sir Tom Jones

Tom Jones, singer of such legendary songs as "It's Not Unusual", "What's New, Pussycat?" and "She's A Lady", have received a new accolade to add to his legend: knighthood.

Instead of kneeling down on stage to woo some lucky lady in the crowd, Jones knelt down before Queen Elizabeth II and arose Sir Tom Jones. The ceremony took place at Buckingham Palace this morning, with Tom Jones bringing his son, daughter and granddaughter.

The 65-year-old Jones, whose real name is Thomas Jones Woodward, originally from the small coal-mining town of Pontypridd, Wales, was ecstatic to receive is knighthood, calling the honor "just tremendous". The CBC quoted Tom Jones stating "come from a coal-mining, working class background. My father was a coal miner. Today is just tremendous." Jones went on to say "This is the best thing that I have had. It is a wonderful feeling, a heady feeling."

Jones has not been a stranger to Buckingham Palace. In 1966, Jones performed at a royal charity event, which is where he first met Queen Elizabeth. They would go on to meet several more times, most recently when he was named to the Order of the British Empire in 1999. CBS News quoted Tom Jones as saying "I love seeing the queen and I have always been a royalist. She is lovely and she still is lovely".

After the ceremony, Tom Jones was quoted by The Sun as saying it was "It's a tremendous thing - something you only experience once in a lifetime. You can't compare it to a hit record". When asked if he was nervous, he replied "The Queen does that to you. It's a big honour."

MSNBC posted a quote from Tom Jones about his rise to the Knighthood. "When you first come into show business and you get a hit record, it is the start of something. As time goes on, it just gets better. This is the best thing that I have had. It is a wonderful feeling, a heady feeling." Jones went on to say "Sometimes you just can't believe it, you think you have been dreaming."

Tom Jones rose to fame in the mid-1960s, garnering the Grammy Award for Best New Artist for 1965. His hits would include "It's Not Unusual" (1965), "What's New Pussycat?" which was written by Burt Bacharach for Woody Allen's film of the same name (1965), "Thunderball", for the James Bond film of the same name (1965), "I'll Never Fall in Love Again (1967), Delilah (1968), and "She's A Lady" (1971). His recent successful hits include "Sex Bomb" (2000, with Mousse T), "Black Betty" (2003) and "Stoned in Love" (2006, with Chicane). Tom Jones also portrayed himself in the Sci-Fi spoof, Mars Attacks!.

[Additional Resources: CBC, CBS News, The Sun, MSNBC]