Life and career

Tennille was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, as part of a family of entertainers. Her father, Frank Tennille, who used the pseudonym Clark Randall, was a big band singer with Bob Crosby and the Bobcats and her mother, Cathryn Tennille, was a local television pioneer, being the hostess of Montgomery’s first daytime TV talk show. Tennille's musical younger sisters, Jane, Louisa, and Melissa, all sang on her variety TV shows, as well as on the Captain & Tennille albums. Louisa and Melissa Tennille sang backup vocals on tour with Captain and Tennille, as Jane lived in Nashville with her own family so couldn't tour. Tennille began her career studying classical piano at Auburn University and singing with the university's big band, the Auburn Knights.

Tennille is credited as singing backup vocals on Pink Floyd's The Wall. She also did backup singing for Art Garfunkel on Breakaway as well as for Elton John on his albums Caribou, Blue Moves, 21 at 33 and most notably on the song, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" .

On July 8, 1980, Tennille sang the national anthem at the Major League Baseball All-Star game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Tennille is 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) tall. She married her first husband Kenneth Shearer in June 1962 at the age of 22. They divorced in late 1972. She then married Daryl Dragon on November 11, 1975. Tennille toured with The Beach Boys during the 1970s with Daryl Dragon, both playing keyboards for the group.

In April 2016, Toni Tennille released her memoir, which she co-authored with her niece Caroline Tennille St. Clair since making her move to Florida in 2015, after her divorce from Daryl Dragon. She recorded a complete 'audiobook' of the memoir, released on the audiobook service Audible.

Education

Tennille graduated from Sidney Lanier High School then attended Auburn University in Alabama for two years.

Discography

Main article: Toni Tennille discography

Studio albums

• More Than You Know (1984)
• All Of Me (1987)
• Never Let Me Go (1991)
• Things Are Swingin' (1994)
• Incurably Romantic (2001)

Divorce

The couple moved from Reno, Nevada to Prescott, Arizona in 2007. Toni Tennille filed for divorce after 39 years of marriage on January 16, 2014. Dragon said he was unaware of any discontent until being served with the divorce papers.

The divorce was finalized in July, 2014. In 2015, Tennille moved to Florida at the suggestion of her sister, Jane.

During the promotion of her autobiography, on The Today Show in the spring of 2016, Tennille said the reason for their divorce was Dragon's "inability to be affectionate." However, she later inferred that Daryl reacted positively to her memoir and the reveal; he said "I saw you on the Today Show. I was proud of you".

[ Source: Wikipedia ]