Introduction

Tom spoke through a trembling voice, his Welsh accent thick with emotion:
“There were nights I thought… maybe I should just go back to the glove factory. Maybe a boy from the mines isn’t meant for the charts. But my mother, Freda, kept saying, ‘You have a voice given by God, Thomas. Don’t you dare stop.’ And then she sold the only home we knew — just so I could survive in London and chase this dream.”
Near the end of the interview, Sir Tom took a deep, shaky breath, looked down at his hands, and finished with one single sentence — a line that left the entire studio, and music fans around the world, in tears…