Music icon Gary U.S. Bonds will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Christmas Eve in addition to performing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" with his wife, Big Mama, and daughter, Little Mama.
The 1 p.m. event on Thursday will also serve as a celebration of the second printing of Bonds' best-selling autobiography, "By U.S. Bonds, That's My Story." In the book - written with Stephen Cooper and with a forward by the E Street Band's Steven Van Zandt - Bonds recounts stories of traveling with B.B. King and Sam Cooke, his first big break with Dick Clark, hit songs "New Orleans" and "Quarter To Three" and how Bruce Springsteen sought him out to perform with him. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Bonds' website.
Born Gary Anderson, the singer's name was changed to U.S. Bonds by record producer Frank Guida, according to All Music, which notes that Guida double- and triple-tracked Bonds' voice, "and the resulting murky production gave all the hits (including 'Quarter to Three,' 'School Is Out,' and 'Dear Lady Twist') a party-in-outer-space quality all their own." The singer made "a couple of excellent solo albums in the early '80s with the help of Bruce Springsteen," according to All Music.
