Daryl was the son of conductor Carmen Dragon, and had studied classical piano for ten years. During the run of "Mother Earth", Daryl was impressed with Toni's writing and singing and persuade her to join the Beach Boys next tour, making her the first "Beach Girl". Daryl had been nick named "Captain" by Mike Love because he always wore a navel captain's hat on stage, and when he and Toni teamed up, they simply called themselves, "Captain and Tennille".

Toni and Daryl were unable to land their own recording contract, so with $500 of their own money, they cut a single and released it on their own Butterscotch Castle label. That first effort was "The Way I Want To Touch You" and got enough regional air play to get them signed to A&M Records.

Searching for a follow-up, vice president of A&M Records, Kip Cohen called them into his office and played a song from a Neil Sedaka album called "Love Will Keep Us Together". They loved it at once and it was decided to record and release it as a single.

"Love Will Keep Us Together" broke on American radio in April of 1975, and climbed steadily through May. It reached number one in June and spent nearly six months on the charts, selling over two and half million copies in both English and Spanish. Their success continued with "Lonely Night (Angel Face)", "Muskrat Love" and "You Never Done It Like That".

In 1978, they moved from A&M to the Casablanca label, and kept their hit string alive when the sensual ballad "Do That To Me One More Time" reached number 1 in the USA in 1979. By now, however, Captain And Tennille were established in television with their own primetime series, that took much of their time away from touring. Unable to support subsequent singles, their record sales tailed off dramatically. When the night time show was cancelled, it was followed by a daytime show called "The Toni Tennille Variety Talk Show", hosted by Tennille, with Dragon as musical director, in the early '80s.

In the years 1984-1986, Toni recorded two big band albums which contained some of the most famous, classic jazz standards ever written. This "chance" that Toni took with her career has definitely paid off. Radio stations around the country played her beautiful renditions of these timeless songs, and Toni traveled the country singing the great standards with symphony orchestras and big bands. Since 1984, Toni has become one of the most popular and critically acclaimed symphony guest artists in the U.S. and Canada. She performs with 8 to 10 symphony orchestras a year, including those of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Dallas, and Edmonton, Alberta, Can. She is also a favourite guest artist of the United States Air Force Symphony Orchestra and Airmen of Note.

Her first two solo albums, "More Than You Know" and "All Of Me", were conceived by Toni and then finely tuned with the assistance of Count Basie's musical arranger/orchestrator, Sammy Nestico. Both albums were critically praised by Billboard, The Los Angeles Times, Cashbox, The Chicago Tribune, People and Us magazine. In 1991 she released a third album, a sampling of classic jazz ballads entitled "Never Let Me Go", which again gained favourable reviews.

In later years, Toni has become an even more versatile performer. In 1992 she starred in the Los Angeles production of the musical, "Stardust", for which she received outstanding reviews from virtually every major publication and trade magazine.

In 1995, Captain & Tennille released a collection of their hit singles along with other romantic ballads from the last two decades. The release of "Captain & Tennille - 20 Years of Romance" also happened to coincide with their 20th wedding anniversary.

As the new millennium rolled around, Toni Tennille and Daryl Dragon were living quietly in northern Nevada, having moved there from Los Angeles in 1984. Always a supporter of the performing arts, Tennille was named "Ambassador of the Arts" for the state of Nevada by Governor Bob Miller.

Be sure to read Gary James' interview with Toni Tennille