Throughout his long career, Engelbert Humperdinck has always maintained that “applause is the food of the artist” and has expressed his appreciation for the fact that he has never been starved.
But here’s the thing — even with a full plate of accolades, honors and awards; more than four decades of being a seasoned global superstar; and possessing a dynamic entertaining ability that allows him to continually sizzle on stage, the iconic singer admits that he’s still “hungry.” And by the time he returns to the Orleans, March 5-7, he’ll have been stirring the pot once again.
“While I’ve had my share of hits and have been living off them for 43 years, like any other artist I’d like to have another hit, another poke at the charts,” says the down-to-earth Engelbert, who has long reigned as music’s “King of Romance,” having been dubbed that years ago by his legions of fans. “Last year, I released ‘Legacy of Love,’ an album of my classic hits that, in addition, contains three songs that aren’t mine – ‘My Way,’ ‘Over the Rainbow,’ and ‘Unchained Melody.’ I also recently released a country album called ‘A Taste of Country.’”
“My latest release is a mini-album of six original songs, which I did with Charlie Calello who is nicknamed ‘Platinum Charlie,’” he continues. “Charlie did ‘After the Lovin’, ‘This Moment in Time,’ my ‘Last of the Romantics’ album,’ and two of my Christmas albums He’s got an experienced ear and has been able to determine what songs are potential hits. He got me five of the songs for this album and the sixth was given to me by Paul Anka, which I’m also very thrilled about. It’s a song written by him and David Foster called “Endlessly” and it’s slated to be the single off my CD.”
Reported to be the fifth top-selling recording artist of all time with record sales in excess of 150 million, Engelbert’s fire in the belly started when he was a child named Arnold George Dorsey growing up in Leicester, England, the ninth of 10 children and the youngest son in a close-knit family. A loner in the outside world who was always getting picked on by other kids, his one desire in life was to become somebody.
That strong ambition, accompanied by a powerful and beautiful 3 1/2 –octave voice, hard work, perseverance, and a series of fortuitous events, eventually led to his becoming an international luminary amassing 72 gold albums, 23 platinum albums, a Grammy, four Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an Honorary Doctorate of Music.
And the honors keep coming. Possessing a charitable and compassionate nature and feeling strongly about helping the disadvantaged, just this year alone, Engelbert’s career-long professional and charitable accomplishments culminated in his receiving the Variety Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Freedom of the City Award from the Mayor of Leicester, and in his being named the Cultural Patron for the Special Olympics in Leicester.
As if all that isn’t impressive enough, however, what’s truly amazing about this artist who is on a one-name basis with the world is that while he has recorded albums in recent years that have charted, he has continued to flourish on the entertainment scene through four decades of changing musical trends — with no hit single since 1978’s “After the Lovin’. What’s more, even in the face of hip-hop, house, rap and other eras of music, he has remained the quintessential romantic singer, staying true to who he is while also keeping up with contemporary times and giving romance a pulse.
“Romance will never leave this earth and I’m proud to be a part of it,” he says. “But people like me who are in the romantic field have a tough job because we have to keep it at a top level. Beat music doesn’t make the world go round but through ballads, love and romance definitely do.”
Still, if you think that Engelbert has had an actual recipe for success, think again. He acknowledges that his entire career, up until this moment in time, has been by accident –mixed in with a healthy dose of destiny, which he believes is a very big part of one’s life.
”Everything has always happened by accident for me since the very beginning,” he relates. “I recorded ‘Release Me’ and then one of the artists who was supposed to be on a TV show called “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” got sick. I was asked to take his place and ended up singing the song on the show, after which I sold two-and-a-half-million records in six weeks in England alone. After that, ‘Release Me’ went around the world, giving me an international career. That’s what luck is all about – some people only get lucky in one country.”
Of course, it didn’t hurt that the handsome artist was also considered a “dish” in the physical sense, his meteoric rise on the entertainment scene aided by his black hair and long sideburns, which, in tandem with his name, gave him the gimmick necessary in those days for recognition. He achieved a sex symbol image, amassing some 250 global fan clubs, once said to be the largest fan base of any artist in the world. It has been the four decades of lasting devotion from his fans and, mutual respect and admiration between the artist and his audiences – now filled with women and men alike — that he feels is responsible for his continuing to sell out the world’s stages today.
As in anyone’s life, however, there were also those not-so-lucky-at-the-time circumstances that provided lessons to be learned and new paths to be taken. Engelbert acknowledges that he has played a big part in his own career, making his own decisions and planning his own shows, with only two or three of the latter over the years being produced by others. Even so, he admits that he has made “tons” of mistakes, particularly with management, having been ripped off several times. He is currently in the very capable hands of Eliot Weisman, who has managed Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr., Steve and Eydie, and Don Rickles.
“I’m really glad that Eliot’s on board,” Engelbert relates. “At this stage of my life, I can’t afford to make any more changes. Eliot really cares about me and respects my talent – and that’s half the battle. He’s handled the biggest stars in the world and he’s really a genius.”
“When I make mistakes now,” he adds, “I rap myself on the head and say, ‘Stupid, don’t do that again.’ I don’t dwell on those things – it just brings you down. I just keep moving forward. Luckily, I’ve never had to take too many steps backwards. I was able to maintain a high level in the entertainment world.”
Engelbert admits that one area in which he made some errors was in his physical image. Revealing that he had difficulty finding the right identifiable look for himself through the years, he says that he started to do things that didn’t belong to him. Now, he is adamant about the fact that once an artist sets a style, he should hold that style for the purpose of being recognized.
“I set my style on my TV show with my black hair and long sideburns,” he notes. “Then Elvis and others began copying my sideburns so I shaved mine off. Stupid me. I changed my looks several times — I dyed my hair blonde, then I grew a mustache, then a beard, then massively long hair. And Engelbert disappeared. Several years ago, I reinvented myself back into myself, dyeing my hair black and growing my sideburns again. And people started to recognize me once more. Everything starts from the head and those aspects created an image for me. Of course, I’ve changed my hair color now – I’ve gone lighter – because with black hair at my age, people will think that I’m trying to be something I’m not.”
With his natural youthful looks (he doesn’t believe in plastic surgery) and energy belying his 73 years, Engelbert believes in taking good care of himself. He eats well and has recently lost 33 pounds on NutriSystem and wants to lose 20 more (“Then I can go on ‘Dancing with the Stars,” he says). A rare exception in the entertainment world, he never dines past 6 p.m., which means that he eats before going on stage while most performers eat afterwards. He also enjoys cooking and, when at home, will often make his own meals.
Married for 46 years to his wife, Patricia, and the father of four, Engelbert also exercises, plays golf, and rides his motorcycle and does it all with his wonderful sense of humor. “I was doing my push-ups the other day and, after a while, a friend came over to me and said, “Ok, Enge, you can quit now – the girl’s gone,” he quips. By virtue of the obvious fitness benefits the above activities impart, they also help to maintain the incredible voice that the London Times once called “the premier voice of the century.”
“I don’t know where my voice comes from,” the star says modestly. “I don’t warm up. I don’t do anything. I just walk on stage and the power comes out. I believe that it’s a gift from God.”
Never one to rest on his laurels, Engelbert admits that he still gets butterflies before he goes on stage. When he comes off stage, if something has upset him during the show – such as the sound is bad or he feels he hasn’t given 110 percent of himself – he gets depressed Part of his legacy, he feels, is the way he breathes when he sings. He can sing several lines before taking a breath, something that he says is just part of him. He chooses songs that he can relate to, believing that the honesty of its story comes through the singer’s eyes and not his mouth. Saying that he doesn’t think he could sing a song without feeling it, to him it has to have good melody, good lyrics, and good vibes that people will listen to
On the personal side, Engelbert enjoys his stardom, citing that the best thing about it is being recognized all over the world. Taking the good road of fame, he claims, provides comfort and joy in a life that’s a world of fantasy. No longer feeling like he’s living in a fishbowl like he did in the early days of his career and having become more confident in his life, he has been able to cope with and push aside the shyness that always plagued him. When it comes to the people in his life, his biggest beefs are incompetence and those who take advantage of his kindness, mistaking it for weakness. He doesn’t tolerate phonies and says that those associations don’t last.
While he admits that he’s not a very communicative person and that people have to read into him as opposed to his telling them what he’s feeling, there is no mistaking the message he imparts in his music and live performance.
“There’s no greater pleasure for me than walking on stage,” Engelbert sums up. “God has given me life, health, and a good living. As long as I can make a good living, I’m happy and content. As the song goes, ‘music is my first love…and it will be my last.’”
His appetite for life and performing goes on.