Biography
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Born
9 January 1939
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Born In
McComb, Pike County, Mississippi, United States
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Died
7 March 2009 (aged 70)
Jimmy Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor. He was known for his recording of the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".
Boyd recorded the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" for Columbia Records, when he was 13. It became a hit, selling over two and a half million records in its first week's release and Boyd's name became known internationally. Columbia Records executives were baffled at the song's popularity. They had already presented Boyd with two gold records. Boyd's record went to #1 on the charts again the following year at Christmas, and continues to sell as a Christmas song. It has reportedly sold more than sixty million copies since its initial release.
Boyd owned horses, so Columbia presented him with a silver mounted saddle. Inscribed in the silver plate on the back of the saddle were the words, "Presented by Columbia Records to Jimmy Boyd commemorating his 3,000,000 record of 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus'".
When first released, Boyd's record was banned in Boston by the Roman Catholic Church on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd made worldwide news when he went to Boston and met with the leaders of the Church to explain the song. The following Christmas the ban was lifted.
Boyd recorded several more hit records: teaming up with Frankie Laine in the spring of 1953 on "Tell Me a Story" (written by Terry Gilkyson), which reached #4, and "The Little Boy And The Old Man" (#24), and with Rosemary Clooney that summer on "Dennis the Menace," which reached #25.
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