Photo: Published by Asylum Records. Photographer uncredited and unknown. / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Tom Waits was born on December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California, United States and is credited as a singer-songwriter, singer and actor. Tom Waits is 76 years old as of 2026. Schooling on record includes Hilltop High School and Southwestern College. Listed accolades include Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2011).
My Take
Tom Waits is, for my money, the great holdout of American music. Plenty of artists talk about authenticity; Waits built an entire fifty-year career out of it, singing about society's losers and night owls in that gravel-and-whiskey voice no producer could ever polish. What I admire most is his restlessness: folk gave way to jazz, blues, cabaret, and junkyard experimentalism, and he never once chased a trend. The 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction felt less like an honor for him than the Hall finally catching up. Every time I revisit his records I hear the same lesson: a beautiful voice is optional, an honest one is everything.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Tom Waits
- Name (Japanese)
- トム・ウェイツ
- Reading
- とむ・うぇいつ
- Born
- December 7, 1949 (age 76)
- Origin
- Pomona, California, United States
- Occupation
- singer-songwriter / singer / actor / composer / jazz pianist
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Ox
2. Background
- High school
- Hilltop High School
- University
- Southwestern College
Awards & achievements
- 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
3. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.tomwaits.com/
- Xhttps://x.com/tomwaits
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%20Waits
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%88%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A7%E3%82%A4%E3%83%84
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184805
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Tom Waits born?
Tom Waits was born on December 7, 1949 and is 76 years old.
Where is Tom Waits from?
Tom Waits is from Pomona, California, United States.
What does Tom Waits do?
Tom Waits works as singer-songwriter, singer, actor, composer, jazz pianist.
Where did Tom Waits study?
Tom Waits attended Southwestern College.
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