NEWS

BY DARRYL STERDAN, POSTMEDIA NETWORK

FIRST POSTED: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 08:00 AM CDT, Winnipeg Sun

Engelbert Humperdinck has heard them all.

“I’ve been called Pumpernickel, The Hump, The Dinck,” recalls the 79-year-old crooner with a laugh. “People have definitely made fun of the name. But I don’t mind. I’ve had a lot of fun being Engelbert Humperdinck.”

And even greater success. Since struggling British singer Arnold Dorsey improbably adopted the name of a 19th-century German composer back in 1966, he’s sold more than 150 million albums and topped charts with singles like Release Me (and Let Me Love Again), The Last Waltz and After the Lovin’. And he shows no signs of slowing down as he enters his 80s: Humperdinck has a brand-new country covers album called Runaway Country for sale on his website, a documentary movie in the works and a busy touring schedule that brings him to Toronto on April 15. But the L.A. resident still made time to chat about being a Gene Simmons lookalike, meeting a young Bruno Mars and forgetting the words to Release Me.

Congratulations on your upcoming 80th birthday.

Oh my God. Not yet, not yet. It’s not happened yet. But thanks — you know, it’s better than the alternative.

If somebody told you 50 years ago you’d be doing this at 80, how would you have reacted?

I don’t know. But I never thought I would be going strong at this particular age. But I’m very happy to be doing it, honestly. I love my job. I love what I’m doing. I’m travelling around the world. I still do 90 concerts a year.

Your voice has held up, unlike a lot of your contemporaries. What’s the secret?

Honestly, it’s just luck of the draw that it’s happened this way. Normally the vibrato slows up and the voice drops, but mine hasn’t. Mine has stayed. As a matter of fact, I think I’m singing better than ever. I still get up there. I still have a three-octave range.

You did the duets album Engelbert Calling in 2014 with some unexpected partners. Like Gene Simmons from KISS. How did that happen?

The reason we did that was because my daughter always said, ‘Dad, you have an amazing resemblance to Gene Simmons. You look alike.’ We even took a picture and cut it in half right down the middle of the nose, and there is a tremendous resemblance. So I thought it would be fun to do a song with him. And he was absolutely fantastic.

Are there other contemporary artists you’d like to work with? Do you keep up on today’s music?

I do listen to stuff that is happening in today’s market. I have done an Ed Sheeran song in my show. I would love to rub shoulders with someone like Bruno Mars. Here’s a funny story: When he was about four or five years old, he was the entertainment at a fan club party I had in Hawaii. He was dressed up in an Elvis suit and entertained everyone. I had pictures taken with him. So it would be nice to meet up with him again.

What should we expect from your live show?

Of course, I do my standards, the things that made it possible for me to be where I am. But I also do songs from Engelbert Calling. I do songs from Runaway Country. And then I do some songs that don’t belong to me — things that people would not expect me to sing. So I show the audience that I can sing other people’s material and give it my own stamp.

Do you ever get up there and completely forget the words to Release Me?

Sometimes. So I just make it up as I go along. Everybody seems to enjoy it. 

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2016/04/13/engelbert-humperdinck-still-loves-life-on-the-road