(0 users) 
view 
Members
1 Female
Origin
Lake Mary, Florida
Genre
---
Style
---
Mood
---
Born
1 Female
Origin
Lake Mary, FloridaGenre
---
Style
---
Mood
---
Born
1940
Active
---Present...
Cutout
Alternate Name
Cathryn Antoinette Tennille
Most Loved TracksNo loved tracks found...
Music Video LinksArtist Biography
Available in:
Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist known primarily as one half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille, alongside her former husband, Daryl Dragon. A contralto, their signature song, "Love Will Keep Us Together," became a defining hit of the decade. Beyond her work with Captain & Tennille, Tennille has also pursued a solo career, including releasing albums and working as a session musician.
Early Life and Education
Tennille was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, the eldest of four daughters. Her father, Frank, owned a furniture store and served in the Alabama Legislature. He was also a former singer with Bob Crosby's Bob-Cats. Her mother, Cathryn (née Wright), hosted a daily television show in Montgomery.
After graduating from Sidney Lanier High School, Tennille spent two years at Auburn University, where she studied classical piano and sang with the Auburn Knights, a local big band. In 1959, following the failure of her father's furniture store, the family relocated to Balboa, California. There, Tennille worked as a file clerk and later as a statistical analyst for North American Rockwell Corporation.
Career
Early Career and Mother Earth
During the late 1960s, while living in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, California, Tennille joined the South Coast Repertory. In 1969, she was commissioned by director Ron Thronsen to write the music for a rock musical, Mother Earth. The musical achieved local success, toured to San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1971, and eventually reached Broadway for a short run at the Belasco Theatre in October 1972. Although Tennille was no longer involved with the production by the time it reached Broadway, she received composer credit under her married name, Shearer.
It was during auditions for Mother Earth in San Francisco in 1971 that Tennille met Daryl Dragon, her future husband and musical partner. Dragon, a former touring musician with The Beach Boys, later introduced Tennille to the band. She played electric piano with them during their 1972 tour, a period during which she composed "The Way I Want to Touch You."
Captain & Tennille
Following the Beach Boys tour, Tennille and Dragon began performing as a duo in an Encino, California restaurant, eventually adopting the name Captain & Tennille. They independently financed the recording of Tennille's "The Way I Want to Touch You," which gained local airplay and led to a record deal with A&M Records.
In 1975, the title track from their debut album, Love Will Keep Us Together, topped the Billboard pop chart for four weeks, beginning June 21, 1975. This success led A&M to re-release "The Way I Want to Touch You," which 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 single of 1975 in the US and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1976.
Their popularity led to a variety show, The Captain and Tennille, which aired on ABC from September 1976 to March 1977. They also performed for Queen Elizabeth II and President Gerald Ford at the White House during the US Bicentennial celebration.
Over the next few years, Captain & Tennille released several more hit singles, including "The Way I Want to Touch You," "Lonely Night (Angel Face)," "Shop Around," and "Muskrat Love," primarily from their first two albums. They released seven studio albums between 1975 and 1982. Throughout the 1990s, they continued to perform concerts, notably at Harrah's Lake Tahoe and Harrah's Reno. In 2005 and 2007, they released a Christmas song and album, respectively.
Solo Career and Other Work
During Captain & Tennille's peak popularity, Tennille also worked as a session singer, often alongside Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys. She provided backing vocals on albums by Elton John (including "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"), Art Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, and Pink Floyd (on The Wall).
In 1980, she sang the national anthem at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. From 1980 to 1981, she hosted her own syndicated talk show, The Toni Tennille Show. She also made guest appearances on The Love Boat.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Tennille developed a successful second career singing big band and pop standards, performing with orchestras and releasing solo albums such as More Than You Know (1984) and All of Me (1987). From 1998 to 1999, she starred in the national tour of the musical Victor/Victoria.
In 2003, she and Dragon reunited for a benefit concert, their first public performance as Captain & Tennille in many years. A live recording, An Intimate Evening with Toni Tennille, was released to commemorate the event.
In 2016, Tennille published her memoir, Toni Tennille: A Memoir.
Personal Life
Tennille married Kenneth Shearer in 1962 and divorced in 1972. She married Daryl Dragon in 1975, a marriage that ended in divorce in 2014. They had no children. Tennille cited Dragon's lack of affection as the primary reason for their divorce. Despite the divorce, they remained friends until Dragon's death from kidney failure in 2019. Tennille cared for Dragon during a health crisis prior to his death. As of 2015, she resided in Florida.
Wide Thumb
Clearart
Fanart
Banner
User Comments
No comments yet..Status
Unlocked
Last Edit by ComBron
13th Feb 2025
Socials
Streaming
External Links
