Toni Tennille
| Toni Tennille | |
|---|---|
Toni Tennille in 1976
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Cathryn Antoinette Tennille |
| Born |
May 8, 1940 Montgomery, Alabama, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, keyboards, piano |
| Labels | A&M, Casablanca |
| Associated acts | Captain & Tennille |
Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist, best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song is "Love Will Keep Us Together". Tennille has also done musical work independently of her husband, including solo albums and session work. Tennille has a contralto vocal range, spanning over 2 and a half octaves.
Tennille was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, and has three younger sisters. Her father Frank owned a furniture store and also served in the Alabama Legislature from 1951 to 1954. He had been a singer with Bob Crosby's Bob-Cats. Her mother Cathryn hosted a local television show.
Tennille graduated from Sidney Lanier High School then attended Auburn University in Alabama for two years where she studied classical piano and sang with the university's big band, the Auburn Knights.
In 1959, Tennille's family moved from Montgomery to Balboa, California, where she worked first as a file clerk and then as a statistical analyst for North American Rockwell Corporation.
While living in Corona del Mar in Newport Beach, California, during the late 1960s, Tennille was a member of the South Coast Repertory. Ron Thronsen, one of the directors of the repertory, asked Tennille in 1969 to write the music for a new rock musical he was working on called Mother Earth. The musical was a success locally, went on the road to San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1971 and eventually made it to Broadway for a few dates at the Belasco Theatre in October 1972. Although Tennille was no longer associated with the musical by the time it reached Broadway, she was credited as the composer under her married name Shearer.
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