at
Disney World's
Disney's Hollywood Studios Music Boone began his career performing at Sunday concerts in Nashville’s
Centennial Park. He began recording in April 1953 for Republic Records (not to be confused with the modern label of the same name), and in 1955 signed with
Dot Records. That year, his cover of
Fats Domino’s "
Ain't That a Shame" became a hit, setting the tone for the early stage of his career, which often involved covering rhythm and blues songs by Black artists for a predominantly white American audience. Dot’s owner, Randy Wood, had released an R&B single by the Griffin Brothers in 1951 titled "Tra La La-a", unrelated to the later
LaVern Baker song of the same name, and sought to reuse it after the original failed to chart. It became the
B-side of Boone’s debut single, "Two Hearts Two Kisses", originally recorded by the Charms. In 1956, Boone scored a number-one single with his cover of "
I Almost Lost My Mind" by
Ivory Joe Hunter, which had previously been recorded by
Nat King Cole. According to a 1957 opinion poll of high school students, Boone was favored nearly two-to-one over
Elvis Presley among boys and almost three-to-one among girls. During the late 1950s, he was a regular on ABC-TV’s
Ozark Jubilee, hosted by his father-in-law,
Red Foley. He cultivated a safe, wholesome, and advertiser-friendly image, which earned him a long-term endorsement deal with
General Motors. In the late 1950s he succeeded
Dinah Shore in promoting Chevrolet, singing the company’s advertising jingle "See the USA in your Chevrolet". GM also sponsored Boone’s television program,
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. Many of Boone’s most successful recordings were covers of songs first released by Black artists. In addition to "
Ain't That a Shame", he recorded "
Tutti Frutti" and "
Long Tall Sally" by
Little Richard, "
At My Front Door" by
The El Dorados, the blues ballad "
I Almost Lost My Mind" by
Ivory Joe Hunter, "
I'll Be Home" by
the Flamingos, and "
Don't Forbid Me" by
Charles Singleton. Boone’s versions were part of a broader trend in the 1950s in which white performers recorded rhythm and blues songs for mainstream audiences. Some critics have cited this practice as an example of
cultural whitewashing, arguing that it sanitized the music for white listeners and limited recognition for the original Black artists. Boone wrote the lyrics to the instrumental theme of the 1960 film
Exodus, composed by
Ernest Gold, which Boone titled "This Land Is Mine". with Pat Boone during
The Chevy Showroom Show in 1959. As a conservative Christian, Boone declined songs and film roles that he felt compromised his beliefs, including one with
Marilyn Monroe. In his early film
April Love (1957), director
Henry Levin asked him to kiss co-star
Shirley Jones; since it would be his first onscreen kiss, Boone first sought his wife’s approval before filming the scene. He founded his own production company, Cooga Mooga Productions. From 1955 to 1957, Boone was a regular on
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, and later hosted the Thursday-night variety program
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. In 1959, his likeness was licensed to
DC Comics, appearing first in ''
Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane'' No. 9 (May 1959) before headlining his own five-issue comic series from September 1959 to May 1960. One of the artists on the series,
Bob Oksner, was a fellow resident of
Teaneck, New Jersey and was acquainted with Boone. Boone popularized
Speedy Gonzales in a 1962
single. It peaked at the No. 6
Billboard Hot 100 position in 1962 during a total chart run of 13 weeks, doing better in many national charts in Europe, where it sold a million copies. In the 1970s, he switched to
gospel and
country; he also continued performing in other media. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Boone family toured as gospel singers. The family also made gospel albums, such as
The Pat Boone Family and
The Family Who Prays. In 1974, Boone was signed to the
Motown country subsidiary Melodyland. In 1978, Boone became the first target in the
Federal Trade Commission's crackdown on false-claim product endorsements by celebrities. He had appeared with his daughter Debby in a commercial to claim that all four of his daughters had found a preparation called Acne-Statin a "real help" in keeping their skin clear. The FTC filed a complaint against the manufacturer, contending that the product did not really keep skin free of blemishes. Boone eventually signed a consent order in which he promised not only to stop appearing in the ads, but also to pay about 2.5% of any money that the FTC or the courts might eventually order the manufacturer to refund to consumers. Boone said, through a lawyer, that his daughters actually did use Acne-Statin, and that he was "dismayed to learn that the product's efficacy had not been scientifically established as he believed." Boone hosts a weekly radio show, the
Pat Boone hour, on the 50s Gold channel on
SiriusXM.
Later work concert in
Washington, D.C. In 1994, Boone played the title role in
The Will Rogers Follies in
Branson, Missouri. In 1997, he released
In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a collection of
heavy metal covers. To promote it, he appeared at the
American Music Awards in black leather, which resulted in his dismissal from
Gospel America, a TV show on the
Trinity Broadcasting Network. After a special appearance on TBN with the president of the network,
Paul Crouch, and his pastor, Jack Hayford, his explanation of the leather outfit being a "parody of himself" was accepted. TBN reinstated him, and
Gospel America returned on air. In 2010, plans were announced for the Pat Boone Family Theater at
Broadway at the Beach in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but the attraction was never built. In 2011, Boone acted as spokesperson for Security One Lending, a reverse mortgage company. He has also acted as a spokesperson for Swiss America Trading Corporation, a broker of gold and silver coins that warns of "America's Economic Collapse". In 2023, Boone was a guest vocalist on
Born to Be Wild, an album by
Ann-Margret, for a duet, "
Teach Me Tonight". The following year, at 90, he released a single, "Where Did America Go?" In 2025, Boone set the record for the longest span between entries on
Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, achieving this record with his song "One - Voices for Tanzania". His initial appearance on the chart was with "
Moody River" on July 17, 1961, and his return after 63 years, 8 months, and 3 weeks. == Personal life ==