Meet Jonathan Berkery – Tom Jones’ Son

Jonathan Berkery (born June 27, 1988) is a 35 year-old American musician and instrumentalist best known for being the estranged son of music legend Tom Jones.

Tom Jones had Jonathan with his casual lover, Katherine Berkery after the duo indulged in what has been described as a three-day-fling. Tom initially denied paternity of Kath’s child until it was proved that he was the father through a court-ordered DNA test. Jonathan is following in his father’s footsteps as a musician but has yet to record any success.

When was Jonathan Berkery Born?

Jonathan Berkery’s date of birth is September 27, 1988. He was born in New Jersey in the United States, which points to his American nationality. Also known as Jon Jones, Jonathan is of mixed ethnic background; his dad has Welsh roots, while his mum has some Asian ancestry thrown into her makeup.

Jonathan has never deemed it necessary to reveal anything about his academic journey, but he studied in his place of birth, New Jersey. The level he attained is not known, but reports said he was quite brilliant during his student days.

Who is his Dad, Tom Jones?

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Jonathan Berkery’s father is none other than the legendary Welsh music superstar Tom Jones. Born on June 7th, 1940, Thomas Jones Woodward is already an Octogenarian. The music icon is best known for his work as one of the voice coaches in the United Kingdom’s version of The Voice reality TV show.

A Pontypridd, Wales native, Thomas became a school dropout at age 15 to face his singing career fully. He started by singing at nightclubs before going on to ink a deal with the London-based Decca Records. From then on, he started dropping hit tracks like “It’s Not Unusual,” “Kiss,” “A Boy From Nowhere,” “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,” and “If I Only Knew.” Some of his highest charting albums include The Lead and How to Swing It in 1994 and Reload in 1999.

Tom is a multi-award-winning singer and is still relevant in the music industry in his 80s.

Jonathan Berkery’s Mother

Jonathan Berkery’s mum has been identified as Katherine Berkery. Born in Korea in 1963, Katherine comes from an Asian ethnic background. However, she became the adopted child of a wealthy American family after her biological parents abandoned her at the age of eight. She eventually grew up in New Jersey, where her adoptive parents live.

Nothing much is known about Katherine’s early life and academic journey, but she grew up to become a model, according to a 2018 report by Daily Mail. From modeling, the mother of one tried her hands at different jobs, like working with the New York-based Regine’s nightclub. Kath was working as a hotel manager in 1987 when she first crossed paths with Tom Jones.

Jonathan’s mum also dabbled into acting with a sole appearance in the short movie Picture Perfect, where she essayed the role of a club girl in 2006. Katherine later settled down to work as an agent in the real estate industry. However, she is best known for being Thomas Jones’ three-day fling.

Jonathan Berkery’s Parents Never Got Married

Tom Jones and Katherine Berkery were never married. The duo only had a fling that resulted in an accidental pregnancy.

Jonathan Berkery’s mum was a 24-year-old hotel manager when she first met music icon Tom Jones who was already 47. Their first meeting occurred on the 29th of October 1987 during one of Tom’s US tours, and interesting to note, the musician was already a married man and a father of one.

After their first meeting, Tom Jones invited Katherine to watch one of his performances. One thing led to another, and they ended up spending three days in his hotel room at the Manhattan-based Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

The couple’s three nights of love resulted in pregnancy, and according to Daily Mail, Kathrine only found out about her impending motherhood after three months. All her attempt to reach Tom Jones was aborted by the singer’s assistant, who spoke on her boss’ behalf. Her exact words were, “That’s showbiz, darling. Do what you have to do.”

When the news of Kath’s pregnancy eventually got to Tom Jones, the American music superstar was quick to deny it. As a man who slept with over 250 women per year at the peak of his career, Tom believed that Kath was trying to set him up and wasn’t ready to fall for it.

The Duo’s Disagreement Resulted in a Paternity Law Suit

Faced with a helpless situation, Jonathan Berkery’s mum decided to file a paternity lawsuit against his dad, Tom Jones. Her son was barely one-year-old in 1989 when they appeared in family court, and the musician’s persistent denials of paternity led the presiding judge, Judith B. Sheindlin to order him to undertake a DNA test.

When the results eventually came through, it revealed that Tom Jones was actually the father by 99.76 percent. This set the tone of their relationship as the court ordered Tom to be remitting $2,500 a month as child support. Though it was not close to the initial $3,800 per month requested by Kath’s lawyer, it was still considered to be substantial. Kathrine would be receiving this amount for the first 18 years of Jonathan’s life.

Tom also made a bullet payment of £50,000 which was tagged out-of-court settlement to his baby mama. Despite providing his son financial support, Tom Jones never consented to provide Jonathan with emotional support. According to the American music legend, Jon Jones’ conception wasn’t something he planned, so he couldn’t offer more than just money. He claimed Kath tricked him into getting her pregnant, and he was gullible enough to fall for it.

Has Jonathan Berkery Ever Met his Father?

After he was rejected by his father, Jonathan Berkery never got to meet the music superstar. Thus, he grew up under the watch of his mum in New Jersey. During his formative years, Jon Jones would always inquire about his dad, and Kathrine would make the youngster believe that Tom was too busy making music and hasn’t found the right time to come and meet his son.

Jonathan’s mother’s words always gave him hope that a reunion with his dad was in the offing. He kept this hope alive well into his adult age until reality dawned. According to Jon Jones, Tom never bothered to give him a phone call, his birthday would come and go without any birthday card from his father, and he never got any Christmas present from the legendary singer.

From then on, Jonathan started living with the pain of never seeing his biological father. Talking to dailymail.co.uk in an April 2013 interview session, the up-and-coming musician revealed his teenage and adult years were spoilt by his dad’s rejection. He became an angry kid, always crying out for the love of a father.

Even his profile on Twitter talks about his inability to meet the man who gave him life. It says, “My would-be stage name. Currently Jon Jones Berkery. Father never met or called me.”

On June 11th, 2018, Jonathan Berkery took to his socials to upload a collage image with his dad and his singing. He first pasted a picture of Tom Jones singing on stage and another image featuring him on the street holding a guitar. The caption of the image reads, “Thanks Dad, do you want some Royalties when I sing your songs in the streets?”

Later in 2018, Tom Jones, who was almost 80, was rushed to the hospital following a bacterial infection. This incident made Jonathan break his silence and request that he be allowed to meet his dad before it became too late. In his talk with Daily Mail, the blossoming musician claimed he wasn’t expecting any form of help from Tom Jones but merely wanted to talk to him.

He Has a Half-Sibling

Jonathan Berkery may be the only child of Katherine Berkery, but he has a half-sibling from his father’s side. Tom Jones’ marriage to his late spouse, Melinda Trenchard, birthed one child, Mark Woodward, in 1957. Mark was born when the iconic singer was just 17, and their relationship was more like that of brothers than father and son.

Being his legitimate son, the American singer made Mark his manager in 1986 following the death of Gordon Mills, who managed his career for several years. Jonathan has a 30-year age difference from his half-brother Mark. In the same way as his dad, Jon Jones and Mark have never met.

Jonathan Berkery Had a Troubled Childhood

In the absence of a father figure in the family, Jonathan Berkery ended up angry and rebellious during his days in school. This led his mother to change schools for him on several occasions.

According to the upcoming singer and instrumentalist, the need for a father figure made him gravitate towards older bad boys. His association with the so-called bad boys plummeted into chaotic adolescence, and while struggling to eke out a living, Jon Jones started substance abuse. He also took to selling drugs on the streets.

The young musician had several brushes with the American authorities for crimes bothering on drug and firearms possession.

While he was experimenting with cocaine, prescription drugs, and ecstasy to numb the pain of not having a father, Jonathan said he would envisage himself bursting in on one of his dad’s concerts to disrupt things. At other times, he would be thinking of going for The Voice audition anonymously and giving Tom Jones the finger when he eventually swivels around in his judge’s chair. Jonathan was only 16 then.

Jonathan Berkery’s run-in with drugs and bad boys led his mother to chase him into the streets, and since then, he has been homeless, living in shelters where he could hardly access a blanket to sleep in. There was a time he took to Twitter to cry out that he needed money, food, marijuana, and strippers. His social media plea triggered a lot of speculations as people rallied around to contribute money for him while others castigated Tom Jones for abandoning his son.

Jonathan shared his experience with Daily Mail in 2018. It was also while he was in the shelters that Jon Jones went into rehab for a couple of years. From what is obvious, Jonathan’s substance abuse days are over as the young musician has gone back to live with his mum in her Charlotte, North Carolina home.

Jon Jones, who claims that he has mellowed and straightened out his life, still insists on seeing his father, making an emotional plea to the musician to allow him to come for a visit.

Jon Jones was Acknowledged by his Dad after Two Decades

It took Thomas Jones two long decades to publicly acknowledge Jonathan Berkery as his son. The musician hitmaker was in an interview session in 2008 when he finally owned up to the existence of his second son.

However, Tom still maintained that he was tricked and fell for seduction. Talking further, Thomas said he didn’t plan to have Jonathan, thus, had no plans for the boy. Reacting to his dad’s public statement, Jon said his words were quite painful as he didn’t choose to be born.

Is Jonathan a Musician?

With the kind of man he has for a father, it was no surprise that Jonathan inherited the music gene from Tom. Armed with the great singing voice he got from the Welsh music superstar, Jonathan drew enough inspiration from Tom to launch his music career.

He went under the stage moniker Jon Jones to perform several of his dad’s hit songs, including the chart-topping Delilah and several others.

The budding singer cum musician has been spotted in different parts of the United States trying to create a niche for himself in the industry. He first identified with the US teen boy band, but that did not last long.

Jonathan Berkery currently earns a living singing at bars and night clubs and more often than not, the budding singer takes to nearby parks and streets, singing and playing his guitar to earn some bucks from passersby.

Jon Jones was in an interview session with Smooth Radio in 2018 when the singer narrated how people always see him as a younger version of Tom Jones. Whenever he strums his guitar on the streets and starts singing his dad’s tracks, people would always comment that he sounds like a Welsh musician.

In his toil to make a living in the music industry, Jonathan was privileged to share the stage with music greats like Jay Z, Nelly, Shakira, Blu Cantrell, and Lil Kim during their early days in the industry. He launched his solo career after calling it quits with the US teen boy band, and despite his enthusiasm and diligence, Jon Jones’ career never really took off.

Jonathan Berkery’s attractive appearance and serene voice didn’t do much for his career as he has remained a struggling musician to date. Many have attributed Jonathan’s dwindling career to his criminal records, as the young man is known for some unpalatable stuff like gun and firearms possession, substance abuse, and a whole lot more.

Talking about his deplorable life, Jon Jones said his dad is the one responsible for his misfortune. He said he has been existing like a destitute man as his dad, who could have given him a better life, never acknowledged his existence.

Is Jonathan Berkery Dating?

For the present, Jon Jones’s relationship status has remained under the shade as the young musician has never been associated with any girl. Fans have since concluded that he must be focusing on building a successful career before going into relationships.