NEWS
Engelbert Humperdinck - I rely on nature and prayer to cure wife's Alzheimer's
'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." 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. "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'I don't think you should rely on medicine'
"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."
Santa's Jukebox
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.
Listen Now: 20 New Music Releases to Add to Your Holiday Play List
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.”
BBC Radio Kent Saturday Breakfast with Engelbert Humperdinck
Interview starts at 1:26
BBC's Gerry Kelly Talks to Engelbert
The interview starts around 1:07
Holiday Music for the Joyful, the Lonely and the Skeptical
By Jon Caramanica, New York Times
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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
Engelbert on BBC's Wynne Evans
Interview starts at 1:08
Engelbert Humperdinck on beating the Beatles, touring with Hendrix and his name
The singer answered questions on his hometown, Leicester, working with Cat Stevens and the Walker Brothers, riding Harley-Davidsons, and his wife’s Alzheimer’s
https://www.theguardian.com/music/live/2018/dec/03/engelbert-humperdinck-webchat-interview
Engelbert on BBC's Darryl Morris
Starts at 1:37
BBC's Carla Greene Interviews Engelbert Humperdinck
Interview starts at 1:14