Tom Jones is getting a DNA test to find out if he's black

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 2 November 2015

It's not unusual for the man behind the buttery baritone to be mistaken for being black.

"When I first came to America, people who heard me sing on the radio would be surprised that I was white when they saw me," singer Tom Jones told The Telegraph. "Because of my hair, a lot of black people still tell me I'm just passing as white."

Jones was born Thomas John Woodward in 1940 in South Wales, to English and Welsh parents. According to Jones, his mother's ethnicity has also been questioned in the past.

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Now, the 75-year-old, whose once-lush, curly black hair has turned white, is taking steps to find out his heritage once and for all. "I'm going to get my DNA tested," he said. "I want to find out."

If he cares to share the results with the media, the knighted artist may have more than just a sex bomb to drop.

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Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.