![GERRY DORSEY (aka Englebert Humperdinck) Crazy Bells [1959]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110826045908im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/W8atDWPokLA/0.jpg "GERRY DORSEY (aka Englebert Humperdinck) Crazy Bells [1959]")
| Name | Engelbert Humperdinck |
|---|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
| Birth name | Arnold George Dorsey |
| Alias | Engelbert, Gerry Dorsey |
| Born | May 02, 1936Madras (now Chennai), India |
| Instrument | Vocals, piano |
| Genre | Pop, easy listening |
| Years active | 1956–present |
| Occupation | Singer |
Though Humperdinck's music career was interrupted by his national service in the British Army Royal Corps of Signals during the middle 1950s, he got his first chance to record in 1958 with the Decca Records label after his discharge. His first single, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," was not a hit, but Humperdinck would record for the same company almost a decade later with very different results. Humperdinck continued working the nightclubs until 1961, when he was stricken with tuberculosis. He regained his health and returned to nightclub work, but with little success.
In early 1967 the changes paid off when Humperdinck's version of "Release Me," done in a smooth ballad style with a full chorus joining him on the third chorus, scored the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic and scored number one in Britain, keeping The Beatles' adventurous "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane" from entering the top slot in the UK. "Release Me" spent 56 weeks in the Top 50 in a single chart run.
Even in a year dominated by psychedelic rock music, the success of "Release Me" actually might not have been that surprising, considering Frank Sinatra's chart comeback that began a year earlier, and label-mate Tom Jones's own success with a ballad or two in the interim, both of which probably opened some new room for more traditionally-styled singers. "Release Me" was believed to have sold 85,000 copies a day at the height of its popularity, and for years, it was the best known of his songs.
Humperdinck's deceptively easygoing style and casually elegant good looks, a contrast to Tom Jones's energetic attack and overtly sexual style, earned Humperdinck a large following, particularly among women. "Release Me" was succeeded by two more hit ballads, "There Goes My Everything" and "The Last Waltz," earning him a reputation as a crooner with which he did not always agree. "If you are not a crooner," he told Hollywood Reporter writer Rick Sherwood, "it's something you don't want to be called. No crooner has the range I have. I can hit notes a bank could not cash. What I am is a contemporary singer, a stylised performer."
By the end of the 1960s, Humperdinck's roster of songs included "Am I That Easy to Forget," "A Man Without Love," "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize," "The Way It Used To Be", "I'm A Better Man," and "Winter World of Love". He also recorded, during this time, a number of successful albums that would form the bedrock of his fame, such as Release Me, The Last Waltz, A Man Without Love, and Engelbert Humperdinck. His own television programme, The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, was less successful, being cancelled after six months.
As his kind of balladry became less popular, and after he adopted some Broadway influences, Humperdinck concentrated on selling albums and on live performances, developing lavish stage presentations that made him a natural for Las Vegas and similar venues.
In 1976, Humperdinck recorded "After the Lovin'," a ballad produced by Joel Diamond and released by CBS subsidiary Epic. The song, a Top-10 hit in the US, marked another peak in his career; nominated for a Grammy Award, it went Gold, and won the "most played juke box record of the year" award. The album of the same name reached the Top-20 on the US charts, and was a Double Platinum hit for the singer. Diamond went on to produce a series of albums recorded by Humperdinck for Epic, including This Moment In Time from 1979 (the title song topped the US adult contemporary charts) and two Christmas albums (the two remain good friends to this day).
It was a conscious effort to update his music and his image. "I don't like to give people what they have already seen," Humperdinck was quoted as saying in a 1992 tourbook. "I take the job description of 'entertainer' very seriously! I try to bring a sparkle that people don't expect and I get the biggest kick from hearing someone say, 'I had no idea you could do that!'" He also defended his fan mania, which helped him continue to sell records when radio play largely ended for him. "They are very loyal to me and very militant as far as my reputation is concerned," Humperdinck had told Sherwood. "I call them the spark plugs of my success."
But he later revealed that he had little if any say in the selection of songs for his albums, a fact that had sometimes brought into question whether he was his own or his manager's or record label's pawn. As his career moved on, however, Humperdinck began gaining more creative freedom, and his albums accordingly brought several kinds of songs into his reach beyond syrupy ballads. But he kept romance at the core of his music regardless, and his fans still tagged him as "the King of Romance," even as of April 2010.
In 1980, Sunday School teacher Kathy Jetter won a paternity ruling that Engelbert was the father of her daughter Jennifer, who had been born in 1980, and Humperdinck continued making paternity payments for her from there although he declined to meet her. Diane Vincent also claimed that Engelbert was the father of her daughter Angelique, and whilst he never admitted the child to be his, he was forced to make a one-off settlement payment for her upbringing.
Humperdinck was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1989 and won a Golden Globe Award as entertainer of the year, while also beginning major involvement in charitable causes such as the Leukemia Research Fund, the American Red Cross, the American Lung Association, and several AIDS relief organisations. He wrote a song for one group, the theme anthem for Reach Out. "He's a gentleman," longtime friend Clifford Elson has been quoted as saying of him, "in a business that's not full of many gentlemen."
In 1989 he recorded the album Star Of Bethlehem, released as Ich Denk An Dich in Germany. All the songs on the album were written by Dieter Bohlen, and some were written with Barry Mason. Star Of Bethlehem (Ich Denk An Dich) contained the singles "Red Roses For My Lady," "I Wanna Rock You In My Wildest Dreams," and a version of Dieter Bohlen's first hit, from the album Modern Talking, "You're My Heart, You're My Soul."
Humperdinck sang The Star-Spangled Banner before the start of the 1996 Daytona 500.
In the spring of 2003, Humperdinck collaborated with Grammy Award-Winning artist-producer Art Greenhaw to record the roots gospel album Always Hear the Harmony: The Gospel Sessions; joining Humperdinck on the album were The Light Crust Doughboys, The Jordanaires and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet. The critically acclaimed album was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year", while Humperdinck was photographed with generations of fans at the 2004 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, where he was an honoured Nominee guest.
In August 2005, Humperdinck auctioned his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on eBay to raise money for the County Air Ambulance in Leicestershire, where he spent much of his British youth.
In September 2007, Humperdinck released The Winding Road, a tribute to British composers.
During the recording of the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, Humperdinck was asked by Damon Albarn to perform on a selection. However, after listening to the proposed selection, his manager declined the offer without Humperdinck knowing. Humperdinck later stated in an interview that his manager declining the collaboration offer was: "the most grievous sin ever committed". And that he would have gladly collaborated with the Gorillaz if he had known they asked. He has since stated that he fired his management and now has his son as his manager. He also said at the end of the interview: “I’d really like to rekindle that suggestion again and bring it back. Hopefully they will ask me again. My son Scott will definitely say yes”.
On 25 February 2009, Leicester City Council announced that Humperdinck would be given the Honorary Freedom of Leicester alongside author Sue Townsend and former professional footballer Alan Birchenall.
19 December 2009, saw Humperdinck perform at Woolworths "Carols in the Domain", a popular Christmas event held in Sydney, Australia. 17 October 2010 found him in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the prestigious Orchestra Hall, in a performance arranged by the esteemed booker Lilly Schwartz. In November 2010 he returned to Australia for a number of concerts, while adding a new studio album, Released, to his discography.
Category:People from Leicester Category:People from Chennai Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:English pop singers Category:English male singers
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