INTERNATIONAL singing star Jack Jones is celebrating his 80th birthday in style - by heading out on tour in January.

And he is including a date at the remarkably intimate Concorde Club at Eastleigh.

A legendary performer he is the man Frank Sinatra called “One of the major singers of our time” and Tony Bennett hailed, “One of the great interpreters of the American songbook and he’s singing better and better and better.”

Returning to the UK for a handful of dates at the end of January, complete with big band, Jack promises some of the greatest songs of all time.

Rated by Sinatra and Bennett as Numero Uno, it was the former who actually inspired Jack to sing. Jack’s school friend, Nancy, brought her father in one day to sing at assembly… from then on it was sports’ loss and entertainment’s gain.

Jack Jones has sung all his life. He has 60 albums to his credit, two Grammies and another five nominations, an Emmy, and awards too numerous to mention. He has performed at two Royal Variety Shows and has his own Hollywood Walk of Fame star right next to his father’s, the film star Allan Jones.

Jack’s respect for a well crafted song has led to him recording some of the greatest ballads of all time but his career has spanned it all – pop, jazz, musical theatre, film. He is, as Mel Torme put it, “the greatest ‘pure’ singer in the world.”

Born into a showbiz family (on the actual night his father, Allan Jones, recorded his hit Donkey Serenade), Jack started singing professionally at the age of 19 supplemented by his income as a petrol attendant. Signing his first deal with Capital Records in 1959, Jack went on to record with several labels over the years, 20 albums with RCA alone, and have 17 chart in Billboard’s Top 20.

Perhaps best known for his hit renditions of The Impossible Dream, Lollipops and Roses, What I Did For Love, The Race Is On, Lady, Call Me Irresponsible and The Loveboat theme amongst others, he has also addressed the work of contemporary artists such as Randy Newman and Carole King.

Consistently playing to packed houses world-wide, not to mention stellar venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Centre and the White House, Jack Jones is an artist who truly knows how to entertain.

Jack Jones is at the Concorde Club on Thursday January 25. Tel: 023 8065 1478