Engelbert (singer)

Engelbert in Las Vegas , 2009

Engelbert alias, Engelbert Humperdinck , actually Arnold George Dorsey (* 2. May 1936 in Madras , India ), is a British pop singer who mainly successes as in Germany crooner has seen.

Life

His father served in the British Army in India, which was then part of the British Empire , and was stationed in Madras, now Chennai , when Arnold George Dorsey was born in 1936, one of ten siblings. In the mid-1940s the family moved to Leicester . Dorsey began learning to play the saxophone at the age of eleven .

He first worked in a factory in Leicester. At the age of 17 he took part in a singing competition in a pub and presented himself as a talent for imitation. He moved to the United States in the mid-1950s. Since he had only limited success there, at the suggestion of his manager, he adopted the name of the German late Romantic composer Engelbert Humperdinck (1854–1921), who is world famous for his fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel . The reason for choosing this name, however, was not its fame, but the bizarre nature of the name. Engelbert's world career then began in 1967 with his hit Release Me , which continues to this day. Engelbert has received one silver , 21 gold and six platinum records so far .

In Germany he only appears under the stage name Engelbert. The heirs of the composer Engelbert Humperdinck had forbidden him to use the stage name, especially since there were no family ties.

In 1973 he appeared in a television series - a British-German co-production - with Marlène Charell . In 1983 he was seen in the series Fantasy Island , where he played the shy singer Bob Smith.

In 1986, in collaboration with the German music producer Jack White, he made a comeback, particularly in German-speaking Europe. The album Träume mit Engelbert reached number 1 on the German hit parade in 1987. The following albums Remember - I Love You (1987) and In Liebe - Engelbert (1988) both reached the top 5 of the German hit parade. The following album in 1989 I think of you - An evening full of tenderness was produced by Dieter Bohlen and contained a version of Modern Talking's number 1 hit You're My Heart, You're My Soul . Despite being ranked 20th in the German charts, Engelbert was unable to build on the success of the previous albums. In the 1990s he worked with various European producers - for example Leslie Mandoki , Ralph Siegel , Peter Koelewijn and Chris Cox .

In 1996 he sang the title track of the cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head do it in America with Lesbian Seagull .

Through an internal selection by the BBC , Engelbert was selected as a British participant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 , but only came second to last with twelve points and the song Love Will Set You Free .

Two years later, the studio album Engelbert Calling was released , which contains only duets, including with Elton John , Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton-John .

In November 2017 his new studio album The Man I Want to Be was released , which he created as a homage to his wife, who has had Alzheimer's disease since 2007 and with whom he has four children.

Discography

→ Main article : Engelbert (singer) / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1967	Release Me	-	-	-	UK6th silver (58 weeks)UK	US7th gold (118 weeks)US
	The Last Waltz	-	-	-	UK3 (33 weeks) UK	US10 gold (60 weeks)US
1968	A Man Without Love	DE9 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	UK3 (45 weeks) UK	US12 gold (78 weeks)US
1969	Engelbert	-	-	-	UK3 (8 weeks) UK	US12 gold (33 weeks)US
	Engelbert Humperdinck	-	-	-	UK5 (23 weeks) UK	US5 gold (41 weeks)US
1970	We Made It Happen	-	-	-	UK17 (11 weeks) UK	US19th gold (40 weeks)US
1971	Sweetheart	-	-	-	-	US22nd gold (24 weeks)US
	Another time, another place	-	-	-	UK48 (1 week) UK	US25th gold (15 weeks)US
1972	In time	-	-	-	-	US72 (14 weeks) US
1973	King of Hearts	-	-	-	-	US113 (10 weeks) US
1976	After the lovin '	-	-	-	-	US17th × 2 Double platinum (28 weeks)US
1977	Miracles by Engelbert Humperdinck	-	-	-	-	US167 (5 weeks) US
	Christmas Tyme	-	-	-	-	US156 gold (4 weeks)US	Christmas album
1979	This moment in time	-	-	-	-	US164 (4 weeks) US
1986	Dream with Engelbert	DE1 platinum (40 weeks)DE	AT18 (10 weeks) AT	CH6 (9 weeks) CH	-	-
1987	Remember - I Love You	DE5 platinum (15 weeks)DE	AT5 (8 weeks) AT	CH22nd gold (2 weeks)CH	-	-
1988	In love - Engelbert	DE2 platinum (22 weeks)DE	AT10 platinum (10 weeks)AT	CH- × 2 Double gold CH	-	-	alternate title: Natural Love
1989	I think of you - an evening full of tenderness	DE20th gold (12 weeks)DE	AT27 gold (3 weeks)AT	-	-	-
1990	Caresses	DE49 (9 weeks) DE	AT22nd gold (6 weeks)AT	-	-	-
1991	Dream with Engelbert 2	-	AT30th gold (7 weeks)AT	-	-	-
1995	Love Unchained	-	-	-	UK16 (6 weeks) UK	-
2001	I want to wake up with you	-	-	-	UK42 (2 weeks) UK	-
2005	Let There Be Love	-	-	-	UK67 (2 weeks) UK	-
2014	Engelbert Calling	-	-	-	UK31 (4 weeks) UK	-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Awards

RSH gold

• 1989

literature

• Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition. St. Martin's Press, New York City 1989, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 , pp. 302 f.

Web links

• www.engelbert.com
• Works by and about Engelbert Humperdinck in the catalog of the German National Library
• Engelbert in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Comprehensive discography

swell

1. ↑ [1]
2. ^ The Secret Life of Engelbert Humperdinck , The Independent , November 26, 2001
3. ↑ Engelbert Humperdinck has 'glimmer of hope' in wife's dementia battle , Daily Express , November 24, 2017
4. ↑ Chart sources: Singles Albums DE UK US
5. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .