![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Tom-Jones-London-1965-on-stage-4-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Bent Rej)<\/p>\n
Wed 29 October 2025 10:28, UK <\/p>\n
Most music fans have spent a considerable amount of time somewhat morbidly considering the song they wish to have played at their funeral, and Tom Jones<\/a> is no different to the rest of us. OK, so he might be a little different. He might have far more swagger, and he certainly has a far better croon, but Jones has always presented himself as a man of the people, and his final swansong suggests that.<\/p>\n Spending hours dreaming about one\u2019s own departure from this mortal coil isn\u2019t necessarily the best way to spend the day, but for a true music lover, it is an essential part of one\u2019s life. Unlike the rest of us, however, Jones has opted for an act with whom he has previously shared the stage.<\/p>\n When Jones landed his own television show in 1969, there was one name that he was desperate to collaborate with: the great Jerry Lee Lewis<\/a>. A couple of years earlier, the Welshman had been in attendance to witness Lewis perform live in Cardiff; then, fast forward through a series of chart-topping years, and the duo were singing together in front of millions. Lewis, it goes without saying, is also behind the track Jones would like to have played at his funeral.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 show may have only run for three seasons, but it allowed him to perform alongside some of his heroes, many of whom would become greats in their own right. However, very few moments from the show would have provided Jones with more joy than performing with Lewis.<\/p>\n The song that converted him was the 1958 effort \u2018Whole Lotta Shakin\u2019 Goin\u2019 On\u2019. At that time, Jones was a talented teenager who fostered ambitions to become a professional recording artist, even though that usually doesn\u2019t happen to someone from Pontypridd.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d been a fan of Jerry Lee\u2019s ever since I heard that song,\u201d he once said about \u2018Whole Lotta Shakin\u2019 Going On\u2019. \u201cElvis had come out with \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019, which was the first major hit, and everybody was going, \u2018Wow! He\u2019s a freak of nature, a white guy singing like that.\u2019 So when Whole Lotta Shakin\u2019 came out that was it. I realise it must be a Southern thing \u2013 white people growing up with black people, and it was all rubbing off, you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Jones also covered \u2018End Of The Road\u2019 by Lewis on his collaborative album with Jools Holland, released in 2004. However, it was a different track that he wanted to be his curtain call. Jones has always employed a terrific wit during his interviews and in the public eye. It is part of why he was given his own TV show. And it would seem he had a little tongue in cheek for his funeral song selection. <\/p>\n It was the Lewis song, \u2018Great Balls Of Fire\u2019, that he elected as the song he wants to be played at his funeral during a conversation with\u00a0NME<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s always been a favourite of mine,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf someone wants me to sing something, I\u2019ve always said: \u2018If in doubt, do \u2018Great Balls Of Fire\u2019. But at my funeral, I\u2019d have to play the original 1957 version released on Sun Records.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Great Balls Of Fire\u2019 was the follow-up single to \u2018Whole Lotta Shakin\u2019 Going On\u2019, and topped the chart in the United Kingdom. It remains the only track by Lewis to have achieved this feat, and it evidently touched Jones to his very core.<\/p>\n Jones, now in his 80s, was forced to stare mortality in the face following the loss of his wife, Linda, in 2016. The couple had been married since they were teenagers, and her sudden death was a painful reminder that life is temporary. <\/p>\n On his most recent album, Surrounded By Time, the Welshman approaches his sorrow on the heartbreaking \u2018I Won\u2019t Lie\u2019, a re-imagining of a Michael Kiwanuka song. In the effort, he emotionally sings: \u201cYou never leave me, You\u2019ll always be part of the person I\u2019ll become, And I\u2019ll never leave you, You give me memories that I know could never leave.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Tom-Jones-London-1965-Driving-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Tom Jones in his car. (Credits: Bent Rej)<\/p>\n