They were the stylish sex gods of the Sixties, whose hip-swaying, sideburns-filled routines made teenage girls swoon, especially when their former label mates shared the stage.
But today it is not unusual to see singers Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck engaged in a fierce war of words, 60 years after they scored their first chart hits.
Six months ago, Humperdinck, best known for his 1967 number one hit Release Me, said of Jones in an interview: “I think he’s lost his voice. I don’t think he’s got it anymore.”
Now Welsh heartthrob Jones, known for his Sixties songs Delilah and She’s A Lady and his 1999 hit Sex Bomb, has sensationally hit back at his former chart rival Humperdinck, telling the Mail on Sunday he is a “moron”.
Jones, who was knighted in 2006 and returns to ITV next Saturday as a coach on its talent show The Voice, insisted he had no intention of making amends.
She said: “There’s nothing friendly between him and me. He’s an idiot, quote me what I said. We fell out years ago. He’s tried, but I don’t want to talk to him.”
Welsh heartthrob Tom Jones (pictured), known for his Sixties songs Delilah and She’s A Lady, and his 1999 hit Sex Bomb, has responded sensationally to his former chart rival.
Six months ago, Humperdinck (pictured in 1969), best known for his 1967 number one hit Release Me, said of Jones in an interview: “I think he’s lost his voice. I don’t think he’s got it anymore.”
Both men began their careers in the 1960s, signed to the prestigious Decca Records label. Jones joined first in 1963 and Humperdinck, then known as Gerry Dorsey, arrived two years later.
Chart rivalries soon led to jealousy and the pair began to drift apart. While the origins of their feud have never been entirely clear, one of Jones’s ex-girlfriends claimed that Humperdinck flirted with her in 1979. She explained that when she told Jones about the other singer’s advances, he simply “sat there in deathly silence.”
And in 2015, Jones told Metro: “Once a moron, always a moron.”
The two have not spoken for more than 40 years, although Humperdinck says he tried to offer his condolences after Jones’ wife, Linda, died in 2016.
This year will be Jones’ 12th season on The Voice, and while she doesn’t sing on it, she wants to protect her voice and prevent it from aging by sleeping with duct tape over her mouth.
And she has revealed that she has influenced the other judges on The Voice to start doing the same. She said: ‘I’m in good health, you have to do it. I sleep on my side, but I tape my mouth shut.
“I had a dry throat so I saw this would help. I used one in my nose for years to open up my airways.
“Now that I’m older I don’t have to look good in bed anymore, but sometimes I get up to go to the bathroom and I get scared.”
Jones, who was knighted in 2006 and returns to ITV next Saturday as a coach on its talent show The Voice, insisted he had no intention of making amends.
While the origins of their feud have never been entirely clear, one of Jones’s ex-girlfriends claimed that Humperdinck flirted with her in 1979.
Jones also revealed that his close friend Olly Murs was “really upset” to no longer be on the show after he was axed after six years.
At the time, Murs revealed that his departure was not amicable, as it was thought the decision stemmed from producers wanting to attract a younger audience by hiring new judges.
Jones said: ‘We’ve both been on tour, but when it happened we talked quite a bit. He didn’t want to leave, he loved doing the show.
“He was very upset, he didn’t like it. He’s married now and has a child, so his life has changed. But he was definitely upset.”
