Portrait of Big Tom

Birthday profile

Big Tom

Big Tom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2018)

Born
September 18, 1936
Died
April 17, 2018
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1936

About Big Tom

Tom McBride (18 September 1936 – 17 April 2018), known as Big Tom, was an Irish country, traditional and easy listening singer, as well as a guitarist, and saxophone player. With a career spanning over six decades, he started his career in 1966 as the frontman of the Irish showband Big Tom and The Mainliners. == Career == On 1 February 2008, Big Tom began a 12-date tour of Ireland after doctors gave him the all clear. On 25 May, Big Tom performed for the closure night of the Galtymore dance hall in Cricklewood, London. On 27 July, Big Tom was the headline act at London's Irish Festival. On 23 November, Big Tom headlined the Claremorris Dance Festival weekend. In July 2009, K-MAC Records announced more dates in Ireland for Big Tom and the Mainliners which commenced in August. From 14 August to 13 September 2009, Big Tom ran a successful tour of Ireland with large attendances to venues. The highlight was the Glencarn Hotel in Tom's hometown Castleblayney where the concert was packed to capacity. The tour ended in Ennis, County Clare, with fans travelling many miles to see Big Tom and the band.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Big Tom timeline

  1. In 1980, he undertook a sea voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to record his Blue Wings album in Nashville.
  2. Big Tom had numerous Top 10 hits in the Irish Singles Chart: Prior to 1990 all of Big Tom's audio music releases (over 20 albums) were on vinyl record (or cassette) and are now out of print.

The world when Big Tom was born

Big Tom was born in 1936. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1936

  • #1 song"The Way You Look Tonight" – Fred Astaire
  • Top movieModern Times (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Top TV showBBC Television Service launches
  • Best-selling bookGone with the Wind – Margaret Mitchell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJesse Owens wins 4 gold medals at Berlin Olympics
  • Top headlineJesse Owens dominates the Berlin Olympics
  • Technology milestoneBBC launches the world's first regular television service
  • Defining fadSwing dancing
  • Notable inventionSun glasses (mass-produced)
  • World population2.26 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population128.1M

1936 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Big Tom's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19362026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,100$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.25$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population128.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.