Toni Tennille facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Toni Tennille
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Tennille in 1996
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Cathryn Antoinette Tennille |
| Born | May 8, 1940 Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
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Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboard player. She is famous for being half of the 1970s music group Captain & Tennille. Her partner in the group was her former husband, Daryl Dragon. Their most well-known song is "Love Will Keep Us Together".
Toni Tennille also created music on her own, separate from Daryl Dragon. This included making her own albums and singing for other artists.
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Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Toni Tennille was born and grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. She has three younger sisters. Her father, Frank, owned a furniture store and was also a politician in Alabama. He had been a singer with a band called Bob-Cats. Her mother, also named Cathryn, hosted a daily TV show in Montgomery for five years.
Toni went to Sidney Lanier High School. After that, she studied classical piano at Auburn University in Alabama for two years. While there, she sang with a local big band called the Auburn Knights.
In 1959, her family moved to Balboa, California, after her father's business had problems. Toni worked in an office there, first as a file clerk and then as a statistical analyst.
Starting Her Music Career
Early Performances
In the late 1960s, while living in Corona del Mar, Toni was part of a theater group called the South Coast Repertory. In 1969, one of the directors asked her to write music for a new rock musical called Mother Earth. The musical was very popular locally. It later traveled to San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1971. Eventually, it even played on Broadway in New York City in 1972. Toni was credited as the composer for the musical.
In 1971, Toni met Daryl Dragon in San Francisco during auditions for Mother Earth. Daryl had played music with The Beach Boys before. After Mother Earth finished, Daryl went back to the Beach Boys and introduced Toni to the band. Toni played electric piano with the Beach Boys during their 1972 tour. It was during this time that she wrote her song "The Way I Want to Touch You".
Captain & Tennille: A Hit Duo
After touring with the Beach Boys, Toni and Daryl started performing together as a duo. They played at a restaurant in Encino, California. They eventually named their act Captain & Tennille. They paid for their own recording of Toni's song "The Way I Want to Touch You". This song became very popular on a Los Angeles radio station. This led to many offers from record companies, and they signed a record contract with A&M Records.
In 1975, the song "Love Will Keep Us Together" became a huge hit. It was the main song from their first album, also called Love Will Keep Us Together. The song was number one on the Billboard pop chart for four weeks, starting on June 21, 1975. Because "Love Will Keep Us Together" was so successful, A&M re-released Toni's song "The Way I Want to Touch You" in September 1975. This song became their second number one hit on the Adult Contemporary charts in both the US and Canada.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" was the best-selling song of 1975 in the US. It also won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1976.
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In July 1976, Toni and Daryl were invited to perform at the White House. They sang for Queen Elizabeth II and President Gerald Ford as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration. They were so popular that they even got their own TV variety show called The Captain and Tennille. The show featured Toni and Daryl performing songs and comedy skits with different guest stars. It aired on ABC from September 1976 to March 1977.
Over the next few years, Captain & Tennille released many more hit songs. These included "The Way I Want to Touch You", "Lonely Night (Angel Face)", "Shop Around", and "Muskrat Love". Between 1975 and 1982, Toni recorded seven studio albums with Captain & Tennille.
Throughout the 1990s, Toni and Daryl continued to perform concerts around the world. They often played at casinos like Harrah's Lake Tahoe and Harrah's Reno, which were close to their home in Nevada.
In 2005, they recorded a Christmas song called "Saving Up Christmas". This song was part of The Ultimate Collection DVD box set. They later released a full Christmas album called The Secret of Christmas in 2007.
Toni Tennille's Solo Work
Singing for Other Artists
Even when Captain & Tennille were very popular, Toni also worked as a session singer. This means she sang backup vocals for other famous artists. She often worked with Bruce Johnston from the Beach Boys. She sang on Elton John's albums, including Caribou and Blue Moves. She is especially known for her backup vocals on Elton John's hit song "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".
Toni also sang backup for Art Garfunkel and the Beach Boys. She even performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd on their famous album The Wall. In the notes for the Captain & Tennille collection Ultimate Collection: The Complete Hits, Toni shared a funny story about her work on Pink Floyd's album:
I went to see the Pink Floyd concert at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. There was a 15-year-old boy sitting in front of me who recognized me. He turned around and snottily said, 'What are YOU doing here?' So I told him I sang on the album. He ran off to find a friend who had brought the LP to the show, and looked at the back to see if my name was really on there. A few minutes later, he came back and apologetically said, 'Can I have your autograph?'
On July 8, 1980, Toni Tennille sang the national anthem at the Major League Baseball All-Star game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Television and Stage
After a test show in December 1979, Toni hosted her own TV talk show, The Toni Tennille Show, from September 1980 to February 1981. She also appeared as a guest on the TV show "The Love Boat" twice.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Toni had a successful second career singing big band and pop standard songs. She performed with orchestras across the country. She also recorded several solo albums, including More Than You Know (1984) and All of Me (1987). From September 1998 to June 1999, Toni starred in the main role of Victoria Grant/Count Victor Grazinski in the national tour of the Broadway musical Victor/Victoria.
In November 2003, Toni performed a special concert for the Reno, Nevada Chamber Orchestra. Her surprise guest was Daryl Dragon. It was the first time they had performed together as Captain & Tennille in many years. A live recording of this event, An Intimate Evening with Toni Tennille, was released.
In April 2016, Toni released her memoir, Toni Tennille: A Memoir. A memoir is a book about a person's life experiences. She went on a book tour to promote it later that summer. An audiobook version of her memoir was also released.
Personal Life
Toni Tennille married her first husband, Kenneth Shearer, in June 1962. They divorced in late 1972. She married Daryl Dragon on November 11, 1975. Toni said that their accountant told them getting married would help with their taxes. In 2007, the couple moved from Reno, Nevada, to Prescott, Arizona. They divorced in July 2014.
In 2015, Toni moved to Florida. During the promotion of her autobiography in 2016, Toni shared that the reason for their divorce was Daryl's "inability to be affectionate." In her memoir, Toni explained that even though they were successful and seemed to have a strong marriage, she often felt lonely. She said that Daryl was controlling and emotionally distant. They even slept in separate bedrooms throughout their long marriage. She mentioned that Daryl showed no physical affection for her. Toni reported that Daryl reacted positively to her memoir, saying he was proud of her.
After their divorce, Toni and Daryl remained friends. Daryl passed away from kidney failure on January 2, 2019. Daryl mentioned in a 2017 interview that Toni had returned to Arizona to help him after he had a serious health problem the year before.
Discography
Studio albums
- More Than You Know (Mirage, 1984)
- Moonglow (Purebred, 1986)
- All of Me (Gaia, 1987)
- Do It Again (USA Music Group, 1988)
- Never Let Me Go (Bay Cities, 1991)
- Things Are Swingin (Purebred, 1994)
- Tennille Sings Big Band (Honest, 1996)
- Incurably Romantic (Varèse Sarabande, 2001)
See also
In Spanish: Toni Tennille para niños
