Pat Boone | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
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What early experiences shaped Pat Boone’s optimism and faith?
At that young age, it was miraculous that I could just keep walking straight. I mean, it was all so much pressure, but I just took each moment as it came.
Yeah. You still have the Billboard record, 220 weeks on the chart consecutively. You had at least one record in the charts consecutively. One going up, one going down.
That is insane. It was just miraculous, the things that kept happening to me.
It always struck me that you had a particular optimism for life.
I do.
I really do. Even sitting here in 2026 with you, it's still unbelievable the success you had. Pat Boone, what an honor to have you. It's nice to see you.
I'm honored to have you say that. Thank you.
91 years young.
91 years young.
Born in 1934.
Yeah, you did some homework.
Okay, let me give a little bit of a resume to start.
Okay.
Because I think for people who don't know your music like I do, and didn't grow up with you... 70 years plus in the business. Yep. 50 million records sold. They tell me. Roughly. I didn't get paid for that many, but... Different world that you grew up in in terms of how they paid artists. Yes, yes. 38 top 40 hits. Mm-hmm. Six number ones. You still have the Billboard record 220 weeks on the chart consecutively. You had at least one record in the charts for 220... One going up, one going down. That is insane.
Yeah.
Billboard itself ranks you as the number two most popular artist in the 1950s behind a little guy named Elvis Presley. Yeah, whatever happened to him? They forgot about him. 78 studio albums, roughly. And somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,300 plus songs recorded.
We got up to 2,700 now.
Really? Well, congratulations on that.
And I'm still at it because I'm recording still and got two or three records on the charts in meager ways, but there.
I was going to ask you this later, but I think it's a good place to start. What do you think defines your life? Because at least from an observational point of view, and I've been watching you on television and hearing your music my entire life, I'm 59 years old. So I'm very familiar with who you are.
Good.
And it always struck me that you had a particular optimism for life.
I do. I really do. And I've had many knockdowns, many things to recover from, but a happy marriage, wonderful family, church life. And really, when I've been really backed into corners and I thought I was maybe done for financially, miraculously, I've been delivered from the problems. And so I am, I have reason to believe spiritually and just normally that everything's going to work out okay. I'm going to make it.
Do you think, I know you're a man of deep faith.
Yeah.
Do you think that optimism is something that, I don't want to say God rewards, but God maybe recognizes the spirit of optimism?
Definitely. And it just, well, obviously, if you feel like you're the younger brother of or related to Howard Hughes or to some giant, you know... entrepreneur who's got all the money in the world practically, then you feel optimistic about your future. I, as a young boy, had a good dad and mom and happy family, played in the sports, sang, was asked to lead singing in church. And so I had a happy, positive life, married at 19, because Red Foley, my father-in-law, the Country Music Hall of Fame singer, was taking his three girls, his wife had died, my wife's mama, of rheumatic fever, and was taking the three girls, including 19-year-old Shirley, to Springfield, Missouri, to start what became the Ozark Jubilee.
Okay. a big country, successful television country music show. But he was taking his three girls with him, of course. And Shirley and I had been in love since we were 16 in high school, very much in love, even to the point we were talking about how many kids we might have when we got married and the names and so on. And now he's taking her away. Ah, I didn't know this part of the story. To Springfield, Missouri. And to me, that might as well have been, you know, from foreign country. And I said, honey. I can't stand it. I believe if he takes you to Springfield, and it might as well have been some faraway place.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What early experiences shaped Pat Boone’s optimism and faith?
0:00–11:23
2
How did Pat Boone break into the music industry and achieve his first Billboard record?
11:23–23:16
3
What was Pat Boone’s relationship with Elvis Presley and how did it influence his career?
23:16–33:46
4
How did Pat Boone navigate his acting career, including the near‑fatal accident on *Journey to the Center of the Earth*?
33:46–45:34
5
What happened with the Harry Belafonte controversy on The Chevy Showroom?
45:34–58:20
6
How did Pat Boone’s marriage to Shirley and his family life intersect with his entertainment career?
58:20–1:11:30
7
What are Pat Boone’s reflections on America, faith, and the current cultural climate?
1:11:30–1:23:20
8
What final advice does Pat Boone give to listeners about hope and civic responsibility?
1:23:20–1:32:23
Speakers
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