Tom Chapin


Tom Chapin is an American musician, entertainer, singer-songwriter, and storyteller.
Chapin is known for the song "Happy Birthday", release in 1989 in his Moonboat album. It takes its melody from the song "Love Unspoken" in the opera The Merry Widow, by Franz Lehar.

Biography

Chapin is the son of Jim Chapin and the brother of the late Harry Chapin. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. He attended State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1966.
From 1971 to 1976, Chapin hosted Make a Wish, a Sunday-morning TV series broadcast on ABC. He occasionally appears in Harry Chapin tribute concerts. He has appeared in the Broadway production Pump Boys and Dinettes, among others. Chapin has branched in to the storytelling festival circuit and in 2007 was a Featured New Voices Teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
He is married to Bonnie Chapin, former wife of film director Wes Craven. His daughters and stepdaughter are musicians, as well. He is also the fifth cousin of country music singer Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Activism

In April 2008, Chapin appeared at the New York State United Teachers' Convention, where he sang his song "Not on the Test" for delegates in support of the importance of arts and music education in the age of No Child Left Behind. This song debuted on NPR's Morning Edition in January 2007. His album with John Forster titled Broadsides: A Miscellany of Musical Opinion is a collection of socially conscious songs written for Morning Edition; Forster was nominated for a Grammy for his work producing Chapin's 1998 album In My Hometown.
Chapin continues support of WhyHunger, a nonprofit organization cofounded by his brother Harry Chapin. He sits on their board of directors.

Awards