In 1965, Dorsey teamed up with Gordon Mills, his former roommate while in Bayswater, London, who had become a music impresario and the manager of Tom Jones. Dorsey went back on the variety stage and to nightclub work, but with little success. He eventually regained his health and returned to show business in 1962 but had to start virtually all over again. In June 1961, however, Dorsey was stricken with tuberculosis and spent nine months in hospital. A tour as a support to Adam Faith followed and he continued working the nightclubs. Further television appearances followed in 1959 on the ITV show "The Song Parade". Also in 1959 he became part of a touring show called "The Big Beat Show" with other pop singers of the time including Billy Fury, Vince Eager and Terry Dene. Dorsey would return to record for Decca again, but almost a decade later and with very different results. He switched to Parlophone later that year but his first record for them, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (b/w "Every Day Is a Wonderful Day") was not successful either. Dorsey's first single "Crazy Bells" ( b/w "Mister Music Man") was not a hit despite him plugging the songs on two appearances on the ITV teenage music show Oh Boy! in February and March 1959. He had been spotted when he won a talent contest in the Isle of Man the previous summer. Later, he got his first chance to record in 1959 with Decca Records after his discharge. ĭorsey's attempt to get his music career off the ground was interrupted by conscription into the British Army Royal Corps of Signals during the mid-1950s. His impression of Jerry Lewis prompted friends to begin calling him "Gerry Dorsey", a name that he worked under for almost a decade. By the early 1950s, he was playing saxophone in nightclubs, but he is believed not to have begun singing until he was in his late teens. He later showed an interest in music and began learning the saxophone. His family moved to Leicester, England, when he was ten years old. Various sources also say that he has Anglo-Indian heritage. Īrnold George Dorsey was born in Madras, British India (now Chennai, India) in 1936, one of ten children to British Army NCO Mervyn Dorsey, who was of Welsh descent, and his wife Olive, who, according to the singer, was of German descent. After marking more than 50 years as a successful singer, Humperdinck continues to record and tour, having sold more than 140 million records worldwide. In 2012, Humperdinck represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku with the song " Love Will Set You Free". The new millennium brought a range of musical projects for the singer, including the Grammy-nominated gospel album Always Hear The Harmony: The Gospel Sessions (2003) and a double album of duets, Engelbert Calling (2014). Having garnered a reputation as a prolific concert performer, he received renewed attention during the 1990s lounge revival with his recordings of " Lesbian Seagull" for the soundtrack of Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996), and a dance album (1998). Three of his singles were among the best-selling of the 1960s in the United Kingdom.ĭuring the 1970s, Humperdinck had significant North American chart successes with " After the Lovin'" (1976) and " This Moment in Time" (1979).
In the process, he attained a large following, with some of his most devoted fans calling themselves "Humperdinckers". Humperdinck scored further major hits in rapid succession, including " There Goes My Everything" (1967), " Am I That Easy to Forget" (1968) and " A Man Without Love" (1968). His recordings of the ballads " Release Me" and " The Last Waltz" both topped the UK Singles Chart in 1967, selling more than a million copies each. Starting as a performer under the name of Gerry Dorsey in the late 1950s, he later adopted the name of the German composer Engelbert Humperdinck as a stage name and found success after he partnered with manager Gordon Mills in 1965. He achieved international prominence in 1967 with his recording of " Release Me". Arnold George Dorsey MBE (born ), known professionally as Engelbert Humperdinck, is a British pop singer who has been described as "one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around".
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