L.Q. "Sonny" Clemonds was a male Human musician from Earth who was cryogenically frozen in 1994.
During his life, Clemonds displayed a strong propensity to substance abuse, resulting in massive coronary, arterial, and liver damage that would ultimately lead to his demise. Knowing his fate, Clemonds opted to have his body cryogenically frozen despite the considerable expense, rather than die and have his ex-wives take all of his money. After he was frozen, Clemonds' body was stored aboard a cryonics satellite in orbit above the planet. However, the satellite and its cargo became lost to history and it drifted in interstellar space until it was discovered in 2364 in the Kazis binary system by the USS Enterprise-D.
After being unfrozen, Clemonds acquainted himself with the replicator and promptly resumed his previous lifestyle by ordering a martini. He also made a point to teach Data about several aspects of Humanity that the android found particularly fascinating due to Clemonds' eccentric personality. Clemonds also optimistically suggested that, since much of his music had been forgotten by the 24th century, it would effectively be new to the inhabitants of that century, and therefore offer him great success.
Clemonds was also a baseball fan and inquired regarding the possibility of seeing an Atlanta Braves game on television. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone")
Appendices
Background information
L.Q. Clemonds was played by actor Leon Rippy.
According to the episode's script, Sonny was forty-seven years old in 1994, placing his birth in 1947. The Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 146) identified Sonny Clemonds as a country-and-western singer.
Apocrypha
The Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations book Watching the Clock reveals that he and Clare Raymond had a one-night stand, more to comfort each other over their shared fates than anything else. He also made a career out of singing obscure old Earth songs across the galaxy.
External link
- L.Q. Clemonds at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works