“This is it,” sings vocalist Pat Boone as he steps off the Coach House stage on Saturday. His farewell performance will take place in Southern California, not far from the region where he has resided for more than 60 years.
After playing in Nashville, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, he says, “I am considering this being my last concert on the West Coast.” He continues, “That’s the end of it forever.”
People usually ask why this is Boone’s final outing. “And I’d prefer it to be on my terms since it has to come someday,” he continued. I don’t want my advanced age, a stroke, or another illness to be the reason. I’d rather do it while I’m still standing and singing.
He has been contemplating conclusions for some time. Boone is currently 87 years old. Shirley Boone passed suddenly a year ago at the age of 84, ending their 65-year marriage.
Boone acknowledges, “I’ll be honest, it’s been painful. Because I kept working, I believe it had a more profound emotional impact on me than I realized.
After 60 years, Boone complains that he doesn’t mind being alone at their joint Beverly Hills home.
The broker touts the fantastic, well-known position with 1.2 flat acres at the intersection of Beverly Drive and Sunset Boulevard, which is near the Beverly Hills Hotel. “I want to live there, though. Shirley may always be felt in the house she decorated and where all of my girls were raised.
You know, sometimes I cry a little bit when I look at the images that are all throughout, says Boone, “I feel her presence all the time.”
He hopes that his hair loss, which he believes was caused by the stress of his loss, won’t be too noticeable when he performs at the Coach House with songs from his six-decade career as a pop, gospel, country, early rock, and even heavy metal icon.
He mentioned that Boone rarely played “When the Swallows Return to Capistrano,” one of the classic songs. “I’m going to sing some of my earlier rock and roll records from 1955 before switching to songs from movies, including ‘April Love. The second national anthem of the Jewish people, “Exodus,” which is featured on the “Exodus” soundtrack, was written by me.
“I’m thinking about writing one of the ‘Metal Mood’ songs, like his version of ‘Smoke On The Water’ by Deep Purple. I’ll perform “Under God,” a song I wrote about the significance of the two words in our Pledge of Allegiance. I’ll sing at least one song I wrote for Shirley as well. The sentence reads, “You and I.”
He and Shirley Boone talked about whether they would still be married in heaven after watching “The Notebook” together one night at their Hawaii home, and they ultimately created that song.
