Question 1

True or false: Waits wrote the song 'Jersey Girl' for Bruce Springsteen, who later made it a hit.

Accepted Answer

False. Springsteen popularized 'Jersey Girl' in concert, but Waits wrote it for his wife, Kathleen Brennan, not for Springsteen.

Question 2

True or false: Waits intentionally injured his vocal cords by shouting into a fan to achieve his signature gravelly voice.

Accepted Answer

True. He told interviewers he'd scream into a moving fan to roughen his voice, though the extent of this practice is debated.

Question 3

True or false: Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan co-wrote the musical 'The Black Rider' with William S. Burroughs.

Accepted Answer

True. The 1990 avant-garde musical 'The Black Rider' was a collaboration between Waits, Brennan, and Beat writer William S. Burroughs.

Question 4

True or false: Tom Waits once worked as a parking lot attendant at a nightclub where he saw Jim Morrison perform.

Accepted Answer

True. Waits claimed he worked at the Whisky a Go Go in the late '60s and saw Morrison there, though some dispute the exact timeline.

Question 5

True or false: Waits once recorded a full album of covers of Elvis Presley songs, but it was never released.

Accepted Answer

False. No such album exists. Waits has recorded a few Elvis covers, like 'Heartbreak Hotel', but never a full unreleased album.

Question 6

True or false: Tom Waits has never won a Grammy Award despite decades of critical acclaim.

Accepted Answer

False. He has won three Grammys, including Best Alternative Music Album in 1993 for 'Bone Machine' and a lifetime achievement award.

Question 7

True or false: Waits performed the voice of a crazy-eyed prospector in 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai'

Accepted Answer

True. He voiced the character of 'The Prospector' in the 1984 cult classic 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'.

Question 8

True or false: Tom Waits once hosted a children's TV show called 'The Nighthawk Club' in the 1970s.

Accepted Answer

False. No such show exists. Waits did host a late-night radio show called 'The Nighthawk' for a brief period in the 1970s.

Tom Waits Trivia Questions