While Elvis was terrifying parents with his gyrating pelvis Pat Boone was warming their hearts with his white bucks and All American looks. The Florida born and Tennessee raised Charles Eugene Boone quickly fell in love with the region’s country-and-western sounds and while in college he began singing and started winning a string of talent contests. An appearance on The Ted Mack Amateur Hour led to a stint with Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and the beginning of his recording career. At the end of 1955, Boone hit #1 on the pop charts with a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame." Boone's career as a pop start emerged.

Starting in 1956, Boone made 54 visits to the pop charts with a mixture of smooth, carefully-polished covers of rhythm-and-blues songs and appealing ballads. His big moment came in 1957 when he scored three #1 pop hits with the songs "Don't Forbid Me," "Love Letters In The Sand" and "April Love” and another #1 hit, "Moody River," in 1961.

Boone soon became a show biz phenom as he crossed He hosted the successful television variety show, The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom, from 1957 to 1960.He launched a film career in1957 appearing in Bernadette and April Love. As was the trend for pop stars at the time the films often featured Boone's songs as theme music. Boone also became an author in 1959 with the release of Twixt Twelve and Twenty, a self-help book for children and another hit song of the same title. Somehow, Boone managed to find the time between all these other achievements to finish college in 1958 and graduate with a degree in Speech and English.

Boone continued recording and touring throughout the late 60s, often including his wife and daughters as performers on his tours. Boone's already family-friendly image became even stronger when he began to focus on gospel material in the 70s. In the 80s, Boone continued to perform but focused his attention on his Christian charity work and hosting religious-themed radio and television shows for such networks as Trinity.

Veering away from his image Boone released In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a 1997 album that re-envisioned heavy-metal classics like "Stairway to Heaven" and "Panama" in a jazzy, big band style. Boone displayed his sense of humor to even promoting the album in a mock "leather and tattoos"-style on the American Music Awards and The Tonight Show. His appearances created a bit of controversy for Boone and he was fired from Gospel America, a TV show he had been hosting for several years. Eventually his assurance to the Christian community that it was merely a parody and he had not gone “metal” won out and he was welcomed back into the Christian community.

Throughout his career Boone has had his share of controversy. In 1978, Boone became the first target in the Federal Trade Commission's crackdown on the rising problem of false claim product endorsements by celebrities. He had appeared on TV to claim that all four of his daughters had found a product called Acne-Statin successful in keeping their skins 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 to pay about 2.5% of any money that the FTC or the courts might eventually order the manufacturer to refund to consumers. His cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train became the theme song to his real life neighbor’s show The Osbournes.

In recent years he has been incredibly outspoken regarding his conservative political views criticizing the Dixie Chicks of “not having respect for their elders” due to their remarks regarding George W. Bush. As well Boone wrote two articles in 2007 calling evolution an "absurd," "nonsensical" "bankrupt false religion.”  He also supported Republican Ernie Fletcher  by asking voters, "Now do you want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco?”

Even with his personal and political views it seems Pat Boone truly will grace the annals of history as a nice, wholesome All American guy.