In a world that seems to have become increasingly more complicated through the years, legendary artistPat Boonesays that some things in life are still rather simple.
Take, for example, the recipe for grits.
“It’s corn,” Boone, 89, tells PEOPLE of the Southern staple. “It’s just like mashed potatoes. It’s like cream of wheat. And it’s very nutritious. I grew up eating grits and now its popularity is spreading across the country.”
It’s this popularity that inspired Boone to record his new single “Grits,” a song that serves as an ode to the delicacy and a song whose lyrics came to him in a dream.
“I dreamed I was having a big country hit record,” recalls Boone. “People were congratulating me, and even in my dream, I was singing some of it. I came out of the dream with the first verse.”
Pat Boone filming the music video for ‘Grits’.JUSTIN RENFROE
JUSTIN RENFROE
Collaborating with the likes ofRay Stevens, The Gatlin Brothers, Lorrie Morgan, Deborah Allen, and country legend Roger Miller’s son Dean Miller, Boone shows off some impressive moves in the music video premiering exclusively on PEOPLE.
Pat Boone and Ray Stevens.
Of course, while the wildly popular teen idol during the ’50s and ’60s is best known for hits such as “Ain’t That a Shame” and “April Love,” Boone has also recorded “a couple hundred country songs” throughout his career. “I grew up in the country, so to not really be thought of as a country performer has always rankled me,” he says with a slight smile.
Boone still considers himself a “country guy,” having grown up in Nashville. In fact, members of his close-knit family still live in the very same home Boone and his siblings grew up in.
“Before I went to school every day, I would milk Rosemary the cow,” Boone remembers with a chuckle. “My brother and two sisters and I were big milk drinkers.”
Pat Boone on set of the ‘Grits’ music video.JUSTIN RENFROE
And yes, it was in that country that he would ultimately meet his wife, Shirley. “We’d been in love since we were 16,” Boone recalls quietly. “We’ve been married now 67 years.”
Of course, Boone’s dear wife Shirleydied in 2019 after a battle with vasculitis. She was 84 at the time of her death. But the way Boone speaks of her in the present tense illuminates the everlasting connection between the two.
“I read a letter from her from heaven at her memorial service,” Boone recalls. “I wrote what I felt she was saying to me. Basically, don’t cry for me. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and I’m where I want you to be.”
Shirley and Pat Boone.PAT BOONE ENTERPRISES
PAT BOONE ENTERPRISES
His late wife has also made her presence known to Boone in several other ways.
But for Boone, it served as a sign.
“I live in the same house where we lived for 65 years out in Beverly Hills,” says Boone, who still swims, plays tennis and rides his bike as much as he can. “I talk to her all the time. I do not hear her talking back to me except sort of in my mind. I hear answers that I kind of recognize. I don’t believe in ghosts, but the spiritual realm is just as real as the physical.”
And heck, Shirley could cook up a mean plate of grits too.
“She just put ‘em in and boiled it and then added a little salt or some pepper or butter,” he remembers. “Really, she could add whatever she wanted, and it would have been good.”
source: people.com
