NEWS

December 14 2018, Belfast Telegraph

Fifty years after his debut, the veteran entertainer is as beloved as ever, touring Europe and America to perform to legions of his ‘Humperdinckers’. Following the release of Warmest Christmas Wishes, his first Christmas album in nearly three decades, the singer talks to Alex Green about faith, family and his wife Patricia’s illness.

Engelbert Humperdinck is driving home for Christmas. At least he will be tomorrow, when he leaves London after four days of gruelling interviews.

The veteran balladeer (82) is promoting his first Christmas album in nearly 30 years. Tomorrow he drives to Leicester for early festivities with his family.

“It’s so accurate, a song like that — the song is so real,” he says of Chris Rea’s classic, chatting happily in a quiet corner on the 15th floor of the St George’s Hotel in central London.

The world-famous crooner has the tanned skin and slim figure of a much younger man. Only his poor hearing gives away his octogenarian status.

His wife Patricia is not with him and will not be travelling to Leicester. At the couple’s home in warm Bel Air, Los Angeles, she is being treated for Alzheimer’s.

Humperdinck, who changed his name from Arnold George Dorsey, recently went public about Patricia’s decade-long battle with the illness, which has seen him search desperately for a cure. He will return to LA to spend Christmas Day with her.

“My family has always been important to me,” he explains. “At Christmas time, we celebrate together, but this year I can’t come home to Leicester because of my wife’s illness. Hopefully, when she is better, we will come and spend Christmas at home.”

His wife’s illness dominates the conversation, but Humperdinck is overwhelmingly optimistic. They met over 50 years ago at a dancehall in Leicester, and married in 1964. Now, she struggles to recognise his face.

The performer, known for his deep Catholic faith, credits prayer for preventing her condition from worsening.

“The reason I went public with her condition is because I do have great faith and I believe that the more people who pray, the more it forms a chain, a rosary of prayer,” he says.

“I think prayer is one of the greatest healers around, more than medication.”

He has been investigating alternative medicine, looking to India and Sri Lanka for cures.

“I don’t think you should rely on (regular) medicine,” he declares. “I think you should rely upon herbal doctors, acupuncture and doctors outside the medical world with different kinds and forms of treatment. I rely upon nature to provide the cure for my wife.”

He claims to have found success in electrical acupuncture — shock treatment he claims can form new stem cells. “I think it’s had a lot to do with the repairing of my wife’s health,” the singer insists.

Still a formidable performer with a voice seemingly unaffected by age, Humperdinck has had to reduce his touring schedule to spend more time with his wife.

“It’s hard to leave her,” he says, “but she’s in reliable hands. She has her carers and I have to work.”

Humperdinck’s sharp sense of humour and gentle swagger remain intact, even after 51 years in showbusiness.

When he turns to discussing his fans, dubbed the ‘Humperdinckers’, he is fiercely defensive. Trolling, he says, has never been a problem.

“You do get a bad apple now and again, but that doesn’t matter. You ignore that,” he adds, before chuckling to himself: “I don’t get the bad apples.”

Humperdinck may not be a household name for those under the age of 30, but he has impacted modern music in extraordinary ways. Damon Albarn tried to recruit him for his Gorillaz project, and a recent album saw him collaborate with Elton John.

Humperdinck keeps one eye on the changing landscape of popular taste.

He says Ariana Grande is a “talent beyond” and his dream duet partner, and happily explains his aspirations to appear The Voice, which he uses as a barometer of popular opinion.

“I like watching those shows because they present music that is of today’s nature,” he explains.

“This is the way I keep in touch with what is going on in the modern world.”

Aside from faith and family, his third great love is football, specifically Leicester City FC.

It is no surprise that the death of club chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha touched him.

The Thai billionaire lifted the team to Premier League champions, but he died in a helicopter crash at the grounds earlier this year.

“It’s a tragedy. It was terrible, terrible. He was such a wonderful man,” the singer sighs.

“They came to LA to play in a match over there, and I went over to watch them rehearse, I mean practice. Ah, I’m from showbusiness, you see.

“I met all the team and had the trophy in my hands. Oh yes, it was my pride and joy. It was wonderful.”

For now, Humperdinck plans to focus all his energy on caring for his wife, snatching time to sing for his fans when he can. Despite all this, he feels a deep sense of optimism.

“You can’t sit at home and wait for things to happen,” he insists.

“You have to be here,” he adds, slapping the table top with the palm of his right hand.

“You have to be here talking to people. That’s the way I am. I’m not tired of it. I love doing it and I’m still very flattered that people still want to talk to me.”

Warmest Christmas Wishes is out now

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/showbiz-legend-engelbert-humperdinck-on-life-the-leicester-tragedy-and-his-wifes-battle-with-alzheimers-37624627.html

Interview starts at 1:33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytZJVkKsuWM

Engelbert Humperdinck performing live on the award winning British daytime television program 'This Morning' with Phillip Schofield & Rochelle Humes. Originally aired on December 4th, 2018 via ITV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytZJVkKsuWM

STUART DERDEYN December 13, 2018, Vancouver Sun

Engelbert Humperdinck: Warmest Christmas Wishes (OK! Good Records). How can this be included in an alternative album selection, you ask? It just so happens that Humperdinck’s first Christmas recording in almost forty years matches the delightfully surprising 2017 album The Man I Want to Be. Celebrating 50 years in the music biz, he sounds great on this Jurgen Korduletsch-produced set of 14 tunes which range from I’ll Be Home for Christmas — check out that old skool string arrangement — to a crooner-riffic Leise rieselt der Schnee. You could pull this out on a few generations of family and probably get through the whole album.

https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/festivals/alternative-christmas-albums-deliver-something-new-to-spin-this-season

'I think prayer is one of the greatest healers around, more than medication'

18:55, 12 DEC 2018 Leicestershire Live By Alex Green & Chris Jones

Superstar Engelbert Humperdinck has spoken out about the battle he and his loved ones have faced since his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Fifty years after his showbusiness debut, Enge talked to the Press Association following a series of interviews to promote the release of Warmest Christmas Wishes, his first Christmas album in nearly three decades.

Tomorrow the singing sensation, who counted Elvis Presley among his pals, will drive home to Leicestershire from London, where he has been holding interviews, for some early family festive celebrations.

However, the 82-year-old's wife, Patricia, will not be travelling with him to his home county. Instead, she is at the couple's home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, being treated for Alzheimer's.

Engelbert, who changed his name from Arnold George Dorsey, recently went public about his wife's decade-long battle with the illness - a battle that has seen him searching desperately for a cure.

He will return to LA for Christmas Day, which he will spend with Patricia, whom he met in Leicester.

"My family has always been important to me," he says.

"At Christmas time, we celebrate together.

"But this year I can't come home to Leicester because of my wife's illness.

"Hopefully, when she is better, we will come and spend Christmas at home."

'I don't think you should rely on medicine'

The pair met each other decades ago in a city dance hall before marrying in 1964.

Now, Patricia struggles to even recognise her husband's face.

The performer, known for his deep Roman-Catholic faith, credits prayer for preventing her condition from worsening.

"The reason I went public with her condition is because I do have great faith and I believe that the more people who pray, the more it forms a chain, a rosary of prayer.

"It comes down to the person who is suffering, the victim of the disease. I think prayer is one of the greatest healers around, more than medication."

Engelbert has been investigating alternative medicine, looking to India and Sri Lanka for herbal cures for the devastating disease.

"I don't think you should rely on medicine," he says.

"I think you should rely upon herbal doctors, acupuncture and doctors outside the medical world, with different kinds and forms of treatment. I rely upon nature to provide the cure for my wife."

And he claims to have found success in electrical acupuncture, shock treatment he claims can form new stem cells.

"I think it's had a lot to do with the repairing of my wife's health," he says.

Still a formidable performer with a voice seemingly unaffected by age, Humperdinck has been forced to reduce his touring schedule to spend more time with his wife.

"It's hard to leave her," he says.

"But she's in reliable hands. She has her carers.

"And I have to work."

"You have to be here talking to people. That's the way I am.

"I'm not tired of it. I love doing it, and I'm still very flattered that people still want to talk to me."

Warmest Christmas Wishes, which contains many festive classics, is out now.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/engelbert-humperdinck-i-rely-nature-2320963

By Kevin Wierzbicki Antimusic.com

Engelbert Humperdinck - Warmest Christmas Wishes

Humperdinck has been enjoying a resurgence in popularity lately; his recent The Man I Want to Be album was well received by fans and critics alike. To keep the momentum going, Englebert pops with this Christmas album, his first in 40-years. Smooth vocals and light orchestration are hallmarks of Humperdinck's style, and that sound plays out on classics like "Please Come Home for Christmas" and the answer tune, "I'll Be Home for Christmas." "White Christmas" though, with a walking beat and fiddle parts, is a western swing number while "O Tannenbaum" is sung in German before Hump sings part of the song as the English equivalent, "O Christmas Tree." Warmest Christmas Wishes is the perfect listen to accompany a quiet, pre-holiday evening, especially if you're snuggled up with a loved one at the time.

http://www.antimusic.com/reviews/18/Nutcracker,_Thor,_Mitch_Ryder,_Engelbert_Humperdinck,_Reuel.shtml

DECEMBER 10, 2018 By LAURA B. WHITMORE, PARADE

Engelbert Humperdinck — Warmest Christmas Wishes

At 82 years old, Humperdinck is still creating memorable music. He’s celebrating the season with Warmest Christmas Wishes, a 14-track set. Produced by The Man I Want To Be‘s Jurgen Korduletsch, with arrangements by Geoff Stradling, Johnny Harris and Jeff Sturges, Warmest Christmas Wishes mixes classic and contemporary material, from “White Christmas” (in a jazz-styled arrangement), “Silent Night” and “O Tannenbaum” to Chris Rea‘s “Driving Home For Christmas” and Gilbert O’Sullvan‘s “Christmas Song” and much more. The set, which Humperdinck recorded in Los Angeles, also includes two brand-new songs— “Christmas For the Family” and “Around the Christmas Tree.”

https://parade.com/723269/laurawhitmore/listen-now-20-new-music-releases-to-add-to-your-holiday-play-list/

Interview starts at 1:26

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06rltw2

The interview starts around 1:07

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0001g6c

By Jon Caramanica, New York Times

• Dec. 6, 2018

There are holiday embracers and holiday dissenters. Those for whom the season is about celebration and those who seek solace as soon as the evergreens come out. For both groups, however, there is new music this year — a soundtrack for all the seasonal moods. There are traditional holiday tunes polished to a sheen; songs that approach festive joy through completely new musical lenses; and numbers that use familiar frameworks to deliver subversive messages. So whether your Christmas is a merry one or a grumpy one, press play.

Engelbert Humperdinck, ‘Warmest Christmas Wishes’

Let warm oil pour over you this holiday season — the perfect croon of Engelbert Humperdinck is back. “Warmest Christmas Wishes” is his second album of new recordings in two years, following a several-year drought, and it is peak holiday schlock, a hearty and unerringly smooth nog. He still has a meaty voice, his phrasing polished to a gleam by thousands of nights on Vegas stages. There are a couple of originals here, but skip right to the chestnuts — “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” — platonic-ideal versions delivered without an ounce of camp.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/arts/music/holiday-christmas-albums.html