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Michael “Mike” Bryan Martinovich, a music industry veteran best known for his work at CBS Records/Sony Music in Nashville and later as a consultant, died Monday (Nov. 18) in Nashville at age 81.
Martinovich joined CBS/Sony in 1969 as a sales representative for its St. Louis branch. He later became promotion manager for Epic Records in that same market before relocating to Atlanta to work as a sales manager and, later, Cincinnati to serve as a branch manager. He was later promoted to vp of merchandising and spent the next decade at CBS Records’ New York headquarters, working with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, Journey and James Taylor. He subsequently took on the role of vp of marketing when he relocated to CBS Records Nashville in December 1988. In that role, he directed marketing strategy for artists including Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, Charlie Daniels, Joe Diffie and Rodney Crowell.
In 1994, Martinovich joined with Garth Brooks’ marketing leader Joe Mansfield to form Mansfield-Martinovich Associates. While working as strategic consultants to Wal-Mart’s music merchandiser Anderson Merchandisers, the duo created Wal-Mart’s Country Music Across America’s Parking Lot Tour, which highlighted more than 50 rising country artists in 60 markets over three touring seasons.
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In 2003, Martinovich and a trio of partners launched The Consortium, which offered strategic consulting for Broken Bow Records (BBR) and oversaw branding and licensing for The Weather Channel.
A 1992 graduate of Leadership Music, Martinovich served on the organization’s board of directors. He also served as vp at large on the ACM board of directors, on the marketing committee of the Recording Industry Association of America and filled the role of chairman of CMA’s marketing development committee. He was also a member of the Recording Academy.
Martinovich’s sons followed him into the music industry, with Bo Martinovich becoming an executive at Sony Music Nashville and Michael Dimitry Martinovich working in artist management with bands including My Morning Jacket and Good Charlotte.
Visitation and viewing will take place on Friday (Nov. 22) from 3:30-6:00 p.m. at Eastland Funeral Home, located at 904 Gallatin Avenue in Nashville. A funeral service will be held Saturday (Nov. 23) at 12 p.m. at Svetka Petka Serbian Orthodox Church, located at 1712 5th Avenue North in Nashville. Contributions may be made in Michael’s name to Svetka Petka Serbian Orthodox Church.
Former Bee Gees drummer Dennis Bryon has died at 76, just four days after the passing of Colin “Smiley” Petersen, another time keeper from one of the sibling trio’s classic eras. Bryon’s death was confirmed by Blue Weaver, the keyboardist in their 1960s Welsh rock band, Amen Corner.
“I am lost for words at the moment… Dennis has passed away,” Weaver wrote on Facebook last Thursday. “Kayte, Denni’s wife has just called me and asked if I would let all friends and fans know. This was such a shock. Dennis has been my friend, since we were in our first band together at age 15. His great drumming will always Stay Alive…” Weaver did not provide a cause of death or any additional details on when Bryon passed.
Bryon took over the drum seat from Petersen, who died on Nov. 18 at the age of 78; Petersen joined the English-Australian band formed by brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb in 1966, playing on a string of early hits that cemented the trio’s vocal prowess, including “To Love Somebody” and “I Started a Joke.”
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Following Petersen’s departure, Cardiff, Wales-bred Bryon teamed up with the Gibbs in 1973, just as their star was set to shoot to supernova in the midst of the disco revolution. His first recorded appearance was on the band’s 12th studio album, 1974’s Mr. Natural, which presaged their pivot to a more R&B/soul-influenced sound. That direction was further cemented on the following year’s Main Course, which featured the funky singles “Night on Broadway” and “Jive Talkin’.”
Their winning streak continued on 1976’s Children of the World, on which their full pivot to dancefloor dons produced the Billboard Hot 100 smash “You Should Be Dancing,” a prelude to the album that would make them the undisputed kings of the disco era: their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
That 1977 companion to the hit John Travolta movie of the same name was for a time the best-selling album ever — and still ranks in the top 10 on that list — thanks to such indelible jams as “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Night Fever,” “Stayin’ Alive,” “More Than a Woman,” “If I Can’t Have You” and others.
He continued performing and recording with the band through the rest of the decade, with his final recorded efforts with the Gibbs appearing on 1979’s Spirits Have Flown, which spawned yet more No. 1 hits in “Love You Inside Out,” “Tragedy” and “Too Much Heaven.”
According to a bio, Dennis Ronald Bryon was born in Cardiff on April 14, 1949 and began playing the drums at 14 before forming Amen corner with beloved British guitarist Andy Fairweather Low (Roger Waters, Eric Clapton). The group scored a number of European hits with songs including “Gin House Blues,” “Bend Me Shape Me,” “Hello Susie” and “Living in a World of Broken Hearts.”
After Amen Corner broke up, Bryon auditioned for the Bee Gees in 1973 and later became the only drummer in pop history — besides the Beatles’ Ringo Starr — to having five songs in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously. After leaving the Bee Gees, Bryon moved to Nashville and began a long career as a session musician, preforming and recording with Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Edmunds and, more recently, The Italian Bee Gees. He released a memoir, You Should Be Dancing, in 2015.
Following the deaths of Maurice Gibb in 2003 at 53 and twin Robin in 2012 at age 62, eldest sibling Barry, 78, is the last surviving member of the Bee Gees.
Colin Petersen, the first drummer for the Bee Gees who played on some of the band’s early hits, has died. He was 78 years old. The news of his passing was announced in a Facebook post on Monday (Nov. 18) by his current band, Best of The Bee Gees, though no cause of death was given. “It […]
Dolly Parton‘s older brother David Wilburn Parton has passed away at the age of 82.
The news was shared by the 78-year-old country music icon’s sister, Stella Parton, on social media Friday (Nov. 15). The cause of death has not been disclosed.
“My brother David passed away peacefully this morning,” Stella wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s never easy to say goodbye to a loved one, but he got his angel wings and is now at peace.”
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In a Facebook post on Saturday, Stella added, “It’s never easy to lose a loved one,” and mentioned that David died “in the early hours of the morning.”
On Threads, Stella wrote, “My brother David left us this morning. He finally got his angel wings. RIP dear soul. Love you forever.”
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Dolly Parton had not publicly commented on her brother’s death at press time.
An obituary on the Farrar Funeral Home website confirmed that David Parton (referred to as David W. Parton) passed away on Nov. 15 at his home in White Pine, Tenn. He was preceded in death by his infant son, Donnie; his parents, Robert Lee and Avie Lee Owens Parton; and his brothers Larry, Floyd, and Randy Parton. David was retired from his role as a bridge builder superintendent at Simpson Construction.
David was one of Dolly’s 11 siblings. The Parton family has faced other recent losses, including the death of Randy in 2021 following a battle with cancer at the age of 67. Floyd Parton also passed away in December 2018 at 61.
At the time of Randy’s death, Dolly shared a heartfelt message on Facebook, saying, “My brother Randy has lost his battle with cancer. The family and I are grieving his loss, but we know he is in a better place than we are at this time. We are a family of faith, and we believe that he is safe with God and that he is joined by members of the family who have gone on before and have welcomed him with joy and open arms.”
Tyka Nelson, Minneapolis singer-songwriter and sister of Prince, has died. She was 64 years old.
President Nelson, Tyka’s son, confirmed the news of his mother’s death to The Minnesota Star Tribune. He declined to offer further details, other than the date of her passing: Monday (Nov. 4).
The daughter of John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw Nelson, Tyka was the “Purple Rain” singer’s only full sibling. The pair also shared five half-siblings: Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson.
Like her famous brother, Tyka was also a musician. She released four albums from 1988 to 2011, according to the Star Tribune, and she was supposed to have her retirement and farewell concert in June in her home city. Leading up to the show, however, she got sick and dropped out of the performance, telling the publication, “I’m getting older … I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.”
She also said at the time that she was writing a memoir.
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Since Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016, Tyka and her half-siblings had been engaged in a yearslong legal disagreement over the handling of the seven-time Grammy winner’s estate. In July, a Delaware judge ruled against Sharon, Norrine and John’s wishes for advisors L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer Jr. to be removed as managers of Prince Legacy LLC, which was created to operate half of Prince’s estate. The three siblings had initially appointed McMillan and Spicer Jr. to their positions and gave each of them a 10% interest in the company, but Sharon later regretted the decision, sparking the lawsuit.
Tyka, Omarr and Alfred, on the other hand, sold their inherited shares of Prince’s estate to Primary Wave. Prince Legacy LLC and Primary Wave split the responsibility of managing the late superstar’s affairs and keeping his legacy alive, something that was paramount to Tyka in her life.
“I’d like for my brother to be remembered as the consummate artist that he is,” she said in a 2018 interview with Studio 10. “He was also a clothes designer and — not only a musician and a singer — but an entertainer and an actor. You’re gonna see a lot more footage of him and hear a lot of his music. I want you to see everything that he kept for you because his life was for you.”
Quincy Jones died exactly two weeks before he was set to receive an honorary Oscar at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ 15th Governors Awards on Sunday, Nov. 17. On June 12, when the award was announced, Academy president Janet Yang said in a statement: “Quincy Jones’ artistic genius and relentless creativity have made him one […]
As news broke of Quincy Jones’ death at age 91 on Monday (Nov. 4), tributes began to pour in to honor the musician who Clive Davis once told Billboard was “the ultimate music renaissance man.” Among those paying tribute to the 28-time Grammy winner were LL Cool J, David Guetta and Victoria Monét.
“You were a father and example at a time when I truly needed a father and example. Mentor. Role model. King. 👑You gave me opportunities and shared wisdom. Music would not be music without you,” LL Cool J wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of Jones holding numerous Grammys awards. “My condolences to the entire family. I love you. Rest in the sweetest music eternally. #ripquincyjones one of one.”
Monét began her tweet with five heartbroken emojis. “to one of my biggest inspirations! Quincy I love you so much!!!” she wrote. “Your legacy will live on forever and ever 😢 Heaven definitely got an upgrade with you”
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French DJ and record produce Guetta shared a lengthy remembrance on X highlighting some of Jones’ achievements. “It’s hard to find the words to express the impact @QuincyDJones has had on me, as well as on music and culture as a whole. Quincy wasn’t just a legend, he was an inspiration, a trailblazer, and a true genius. He produced my favorite album of all time, ‘Thriller’ by @michaeljackson, an album that set the standard for what music could be, blending genres and pushing boundaries,” he wrote. The DJ also shared a photo of himself with the music legend, before recounting how they met.
“I had the honor of meeting Quincy, notably at the Grammys @RecordingAcad, where we even had the chance to speak in French, a language he mastered so beautifully,” Guetta shared. “Those moments will stay with me forever. Thank you, Quincy, for all you’ve given us. Your legacy will continue to inspire generations of artists to come.”
Jones’ publicist Arnold Robinson shared that the music icon died Sunday (Nov. 3) at his Los Angeles home, with his family around him. His family also shared a statement. “He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created,” it read in part. “Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”
Read on for more musician reactions to Quincy Jones’ death:
“I woke up today to the Terrible news that we lost Quincy Jones,” Ice-T tweeted along with a vintage photo of the rapper-actor with the music legend. “Genius is a discription loosely used but Rarely deserved. Point blank, Quincy was the MAN. I won my 1st Grammy with Quincy and I live with his Wisdom daily. My condolences go out to his family who I had the honor of
Quincy Jones produced so much amazing music during his long career, but I never knew he was responsible for the soundtrack of The Italian Job! Here’s a great example of his genius production and arrangement. So long, sir https://t.co/Sci1ljYrJv— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) November 4, 2024
“We have lost one of the all time greats. The world will miss Quincy Jones,” Darius Rucker tweeted alongside a photo of the artist. “Rest my friend.”
“Rest in Peace and Perfect Pitch Quincy Jones! What a life well lived,” Sheryl Lee Ralph tweeted.
I thought Quincy Jones was gonna live forever 💔. What an incredible loss. RIP to the greatest to ever do it! 🕊️— Fountain Baby (@amaarae) November 4, 2024
“Rest in Power Quincy Jones The Greatest of All Time,” Nile Rodgers shared on TikTok.
DJ Clark Kent — born Rodolfo Franklin — has died at 58 years old following a three-year battle with colon cancer. Clark Kent’s family confirmed his death in a statement posted to the superproducer’s Instagram page on Friday afternoon (Oct. 25).
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“It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of the beloved Rodolfo A. Franklin, known to the world as DJ Clark Kent,” the statement reads. “Clark passed away Thursday evening surrounded by his devoted wife Kesha, daughter Kabriah and son Antonio.”
The post continued to touch on Clark Kent’s private battle with cancer. “Clark quietly and valiantly fought a three year battle with Colon Cancer, while continuing to share his gifts with the world,” they added. “The family is grateful for everyone’s love, support and prayers during this time and ask for privacy as they process this immense loss.”
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A touching outpouring of support came from peers, friends and fans of the pioneering producer in his comment section.
“Clark will forever be the culture,” Questlove wrote, while Raekwon added: “Awwww mannnnn. we gon miss this legend. condolences to the loved ones.
There were also tributes from Jim Jones, Dave East, Mickey Factz, Laura Styles, Rob Markman and more.
The Supermen frontman got his start as a DJ in the ’80s before scoring his first major hit in 1995 producing Junior M.A.F.I.A. and The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Player’s Anthem,” which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and served as Lil’ Kim’s introduction to the world.
Clark Kent connected with Jay-Z and went on to produce a handful of tracks from Hov’s acclaimed Reasonable Doubt debut album in 1996 such as “Brooklyn’s Finest” featuring Biggie Smalls, “Coming of Age,” “Cashmere Thoughts” and more.
Adding to New York rap lore, Foxy Brown is Clark Kent’s cousin. The New York-bred DJ is also credited with discovering Bad Boy rapper-turned-politician Shyne in the late ’90s.
He notched another commercial anthem when teaming up with Mariah Carey for Glitter‘s “Loverboy” in 2001, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Clark Kent was a fixture in sneaker culture and an avid sneakerhead throughout his life. In 2018, he was estimated to have more than 3,500 pairs in his rare collection.
In more recent years, he’s credited as a co-producer on Ye (Kanye West) and Lil Pump’s “I Love It,” which gave him another top 10 hit on the Hot 100 in 2018.
DJ Clark Kent is survived by his wife Kesha, son Antonio and daughter Kabriah. Find the family statement below.
Phil Lesh, founding member and longtime bassist for legendary rock outfit the Grateful Dead, died on Friday (Oct. 25). He was 84 years old.The news was announced on social media, with a statement that read, “Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.” No cause of death was given at the time of publication.
As one of the co-founders and longest-tenured members of the Grateful Dead, Lesh was an essential part of a group that became synonymous with touring and live performance in rock music. With their singular instrumental interplay, their trademark iconography, their strong sense of community and their association with the hippie lifestyle, they became the forefathers of the jam band movement — with a fanbase of “Deadheads” as singularly devoted as any other band of the 20th century, enduring well into the new millennium.
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Born in Berkeley, California in 1940, Lesh grew up as a trumpet player and appreciator of avant-garde classical and free jazz. After short-lived studies at a variety of music schools, he met bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia in 1962 and was persuaded to join Garcia’s new rock band, The Warlocks, as their bassist — despite never playing the instrument before. The band, which also included Bob Weir as co-singer/guitarist with Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann as drummer and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan as keyboardist, was renamed Grateful Dead in 1965, after a phrase Garcia found in the dictionary.
Once he became proficient in the bass, Lesh’s playing style became heavily influenced by his musical interests in jazz and classical, giving his sound a melodic and improvisational quality rarely heard from the four-string in rock before. He came to be considered one of the instrumental innovators of his era, and his playing became as critical to (and identifiable within) the Grateful Dead’s sound as the group’s lead guitar.
By the end of the ’60s, the Dead had become one of the leading lights of the psych-rock movement coming out of San Francisco, known for their gentle, folk-influenced jams, their sprawling, blissed-out live shows, and their affinity for psychedelic drugs like DMT and LSD. (“We found that while high we were able to go very far out musically but still come back to some kind of recognizable space or song structure,” Lesh wrote in his 2006 autobiography Searching For the Sound. “I knew instantly that this combination — acid and music — was the tool I’d been looking for.”)
Lesh was not a principal singer or songwriter in the band, but his tenor often contributed to the group’s three-part harmonies, and he did write and sing a handful of original Dead songs. The best-remembered of those was probably “Box of Rain,” opening track to their classic 1970 album American Beauty — co-penned with lyricist Robert Hunter about Lesh’s then-dying father — which ended up being the last song played at the group’s final concert with Garcia in 1995.
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While the group sold steadily throughout the ’60s and ’70s — six of the group’s ’70s LPs reached the top 30 of the Billboard 200, with 1970’s Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty and 1972’s live triple album all being certified Platinum by the RIAA — they were a less-regular presence on the Billboard Hot 100, where they charted just four entries in their first decade, and none higher than the No. 64-peaking “Truckin’” in 1971. But the group’s live reputation kept them an essential part of the rock fabric well into the ’80s, and in 1987 they scored their lone pop hit with the catchy top 10 smash “Touch of Grey” — which along with its popular music video, featuring the band performing as skeletons, introduced them to a new generation of fans.
However in the late ’80s Garcia’s health began to falter, and in 1995 he passed away, with the band deciding to disband shortly after. Following the group’s dissolution, Lesh continued playing with offshoot The Other Ones (with original member Bob Weir, longtime percussionist Mickey Hart and keyboardist Bruce Hornsby), which gradually expanded its lineup to include more former Grateful Dead members and rebranded as The Dead in 2003. In addition, Lesh started Phil Lesh and Friends in 1999, with a rotating live and recording cast reinterpreting old songs by the Grateful Dead and some of their peers, and a decade later he created Furthur, another jam band co-founded with Weir.
Despite remaining busy with these Grateful Dead offshoots — as well as a handfull of 50th anniversary stadium shows put on by the band’s surviving members as the Fare Thee Well celebration — Lesh largely refrained from writing or recording any original songs in later years, preferring to keep the focus on his live show. “What’s the point?” he remarked to Billboard in 2012. “Nobody makes money on recordings anymore — at least the likes of us don’t. And the longer I’m in music the less time I like the idea of freezing music in amber so that it’s the same every time you play it back. I want it to be different every time, so I’m just not into recording, particularly.”
In 2017, Bass Player magazine ranked Lesh as the 57th greatest bassist of all time. “More an improvising composer than mere bassist, Lesh elevated the Grateful Dead from hippie jam band to an artistic ensemble capable of reaching heights of interactive ecstasy,” the magazine wrote. “Balancing roots with bouncy, offbeat upper-register figures, he could spin long motivic statements sometimes lasting over a minute, often steering the band into daring new harmonic territory.”
Grateful Dead will be honored as the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year. The 34th annual Persons of the Year benefit gala will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, two nights before the 67th annual Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena.
Jack Jones — the velvet-voiced crooner who had such hits as “Wives and Lovers” and “The Impossible Dream (The Quest),” but may be best-known today for singing TV’s The Love Boat theme — died on Wednesday at Eisenhower Medical in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 86. His wife, Eleonara Jones, said the cause of his death was leukemia, which he had battled for two years.Jones’ death comes just seven months after Steve Lawrence, another singer of similar quality and style, died at 88. They were two of the finest singers of what was then known as easy listening music – music that fell out of favor as rock boomed in the late 1960s and 1970s. That music has seen a rebirth in recent decades under a new branding — traditional pop — with such new stars as Michael Bublé.Jones had three No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart (now known as Adult Contemporary): “The Race Is On” (1965), “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” (1966) and “Lady” (1967). Jones received a Grammy nod for best vocal performance, male for “The Impossible Dream,” the standout ballad from the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. The song also received a Grammy nod for song of the year.Earlier in the 1960s, Jones won two Grammys for best vocal performance, male for Tony Velona’s “Lollipops and Roses” and Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Wives and Lovers.”The latter song, which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1964, was also nominated for Grammys for record and song of the year. The lyrics — which warn women “Don’t think because there’s a ring on your finger/ You needn’t try anymore” — are now seen as hopelessly sexist. But if you can get past that, it’s one of Bacharach and David’s best-sounding hits, with a jazzy arrangement and Jones’ suave vocal.Jones addressed the criticism the song received by altering the lyrics to poke fun at men. But he never dropped the song from his set.“Since it’s a politically incorrect song, I start it out with a disclaimer,” he once said. “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.”
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Jones had three top 20 albums on the Billboard 200: Wives and Lovers, Dear Heart and The Impossible Dream. The latter album remained on the chart for more than a year.Jones, Lawrence and such other singers as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and Andy Williams were among the last singers of old-guard easy listening music in the 1960s, as rock increasingly came to dominate the charts.As Chris Koseluk noted in The Hollywood Reporter’s obituary of Jones, “When filmmakers wanted to create that easy-listening ’60s vibe, Jones was one of their go-to guys. He can be heard on the soundtracks for Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Goodfellas (1990), Reckless (1995), Duplex (2003), Bobby (2006) and American Hustle (2013), in which he had a cameo. ‘Lollipops and Roses’ accompanied the end credits on a 2008 episode of Mad Men.”Jones sang the title songs of several films, including A Ticklish Affair (1963), Love With the Proper Stranger (1963) and Where Love Has Gone (1964). On the 1965 Oscar telecast he sang the last-named song, which was nominated for best original song. He opened the 1970 The Best on Record program, the final pre-recorded Grammy-branded show before the live telecast commenced the following year, by singing Joe South’s “Games People Play,” that year’s song of the year winner.Jones sang The Love Boat theme, written by Paul Williams and Charles Fox, during that show’s first eight seasons (1977-85). (Dionne Warwick recorded it for season 9.) The song has elements of kitsch, and certainly the show was TV at its most mindless, but Jones’ dynamic vocal and Williams’ fine lyric (“Love/life’s sweetest reward)” were both work they could be proud of.
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Jones’ recording of “Theme From Love Boat” cracked Billboard’s adult contemporary chart in 1980. His later AC-charting hits also included “Let Me Be the One,” a cover of a superb Williams-Roger Nichols song that was featured on the Carpenters’ 1971 album Carpenters; “What I Did for Love,” the instant-standard from 1975’s Broadway smash A Chorus Line; and “With One More Look at You” from the Barbra Streisand-starring 1976 remake of A Star Is Born.Jones landed his fifth and final Grammy nomination in 1998, best traditional pop vocal performance, for his album Jack Jones Paints a Tribute to Tony Bennett. Bennett, of course, was one of the few old-school traditional pop performers who thrived in recent decades. (Fun Fact: Bennett’s “I Wanna Be Around” and Jones’ “Wives and Lovers” were both nominated for record of the year at the 1964 Grammys. Both lost to Henry Mancini’s “The Days of Wine and Roses.”)Jones continued to appear at casinos, performing arts centers and cabarets until shortly before his death. Jones was married to actress Jill St. John from 1967-69. They were one of the top celebrity couples of their era, each with a highly successful career. (They weren’t bad looking, either.)John Allan Jones was born in Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 1938. His father, tenor Allen Jones, acted in The Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937). Jones also acted in Show Boat (1936) and had a hit record in 1938 with “The Donkey Serenade” from the movie The Firefly. The elder Jones had performed the latter song on horseback for Jeanette MacDonald in the 1937 MGM musical. Jack Jones’ mother, Irene Hervey, was a film and TV actress who received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1969 for an appearance on the long-running sitcom My Three Sons.Jones, who lived in Indian Wells, Calif., was married six times. He was married to Katie Lee Nuckols (also known as the model Lee Larance) from 1960 to 1966; Jill St. John from 1967 to 1969; Gretchen Roberts from 1970 to 1971; Kathryn Simmons, from 1977 to 1982; and Kim Ely from 1982 to 2005. He married Eleonora Donata Peters in 2009.In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Crystal Thomas, from his marriage to Ms. Nuckols; another daughter, Nicole Ramasco, from his marriage to Ms. Ely; two stepdaughters, Nicole Whitty and Colette Peters, from his marriage to Ms. Peters; and three grandchildren.