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The UK crooner behind one of the most popular fireside songs in New Zealand

February 13, 2026

Alan Granville February 11, 2026 • 9:15am Stuff New Zealand

‘King of Romance’, Engelbert Humperdinck returns to New Zealand

“I have a song that I do in my show that people in New Zealand just love. Every time I come, that's the first I put on my list.”

The song is Ten Guitars and it was written for legendary crooner Engelbert Humperdinck. Now 89 years young, the self-styled King of Romance has announced a tour of New Zealand, and fans will be hearing that song “two or three times” in the set.

The popularity of the tune here is a curious quirk in Humperdinck’s long career.

It was the flip side to his first major international hit, Release Me. Released in 1967, it was a DJ in Rotorua, Eddie O'Strange, who championed the B-side. The song became wildly popular, particularly among Māoriperformers. It was even the subject of a documentary by Geoff Cawthorn.

Humperdinck admits the success of Ten Guitars caught him by surprise, and even now he “can’t believe it”.

“Little kids, they all sing it. They all know it, they don't even know who Engelbert Humperdinck is but they know Ten Guitars.

“It’s a lovely song. It’s a very happy song, and I’m pleased it’s got that kind of success in New Zealand.”

Born Arnold George Dorsey in 1936, he performed as Gerry Dorsey until he was advised by then-manager Gordon Mills to adopt his unusual stage name, taken from a 19th-century German composer, to stand out from the crowd. It worked, and he went on to sell 150 million records.

Humperdinck isn’t slowing down despite his many years in the industry: “Music is my love. And this is my 59th year in show business, and so we're celebrating it by doing a celebration tour, and we're going to go to a lot of places around the world again.”

He will play Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland in June, his first visit to these shores in seven years, with concerts also in Australia and the US.

Humperdinck says touring now is a bit different than in the 1970s: “We used to do about 300 shows a year, and that was quite ridiculous.

“I once did 81 nights in a row. The plane was waiting at the airport, and we took off every day, and that particular night, we'll do the show, get on the plane that night, fly to the next venue, and that's how we did 81 in a row. And it was quite exhausted.”

He admits to having a few regrets over his career, including losing out on a wildly popular tune.

“I had a song once that I thought to myself, ‘this is a hit. I'm going to record it’. And it was Strangers In The Night, and I recorded the song. Then my manager said, ‘you can't do it’. I said, ‘why?’. He said, ‘Frank (Sinatra) wants it. And I said, ‘well, what the heck?’. Anyway, he got it, and he had a number one hit.”

Humperdinck is still recording with a release of his take on 80s classics from the likes of Aerosmith and KISS due later in the year.

While he is promising a mix of classic tunes and contemporary releases in his concerts, there is one song he refuses to sing - Lesbian Seagull. The song was originally released

in the late 1970s but Humperdinck was approached by the makers of Beavis and Butt-Head Do America to re-record the tune for animated movie.

“When I first heard the song, they played it to me. I said, ‘OK, I'll go ahead and do it’. And it turned out to go platinum, but I don’t put it in my show. It's kind of difficult.”

His music keeps finding new fans, with songs popping up in the likes of action movie Bullet Train and TV shows Umbrella Academy and Moon Knight, something he finds really satisfying.

So when will Humperdinck call it quits on touring?

“I did my farewell tour last year. And I tell you what, once I finished the tour, and then I had a three month break, I was climbing the walls. I called up my manager, and I said, ‘there's no way this is my last tour. Let's carry on’.

NEWS

The UK crooner behind one of the most popular fireside songs in New Zealand

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