Lindley Armstrong “Spike” Jones was born on December 14, 1911, in Long Beach, California, the U.S. He was an American musician and bandleader, who specialized in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music.
Jones was given the nickname ‘Spike’ when he was young, for being so thin that he was compared to a railroad spike. When he was 11, he got his first set of drums. As a teenager, he played in bands that he formed. His first band was called “Spike Jones and his Five Tacks”
Jones was first married to Patricia Middleton in the year 1935, however, the marriage ended in divorce after 11 years. Barely three years after his divorce from his first wife, Spike Jones got married to Helen Grayco on July 18, 1949, in Beverly Hills, California.
Helen and Jones had three children, one of whom is producer Spike Jones Jr. Grammy award-winning recording engineer Leslie Ann Jones, and Gina Jones is their other two children. The marriage between Jones and Helen lasted until Jones died in 1965.
Jones died on May 1, 1965, at the age of 53. The cause of his death was emphysema. Emphysema is a lung condition that causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the air sacs in the lungs are damaged.
