Humperdinck, Engelbert

1936 – An Anglo-Indian pop singer of the 50’s was born on the 2nd day of May of this year in Madras, India.

1946 – His family immigrated to Leicester, England, with his family from his native India and adopted the stage name Engelbert Humperdinck. He became interested in music and began to study saxophone.

1950 – He started out singing in the night clubs.

1956 – He put his budding music career on hiatus to serve in the military.

1958 – He got the chance to record for Decca Records this year, but the lone single released, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, flopped.

1967 – In this year, He cut a single, "Release Me", and the result was an almost instant success for the singer. The song quickly hit the number-one slot on the British music charts, beating The Beatles song, "Strawberry Fields Forever".

1970 – He purchased the Pink Palace, former home of the late Jayne Mansfield. The estate was a 40-room Mediterranean-style mansion also formerly owned by Rudy Vallee, located at 10100 Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

1976 – The release of the album After the Lovin'  this year was a relative watershed in Humperdinck's career. In addition, the album received a nomination for a Grammy Award, the first major nod Humperdinck had received from critical corners.

1980 – He was approaching the age of 50, yet he was still producing albums regularly, performing sometimes more than 200 concerts in a year, and he was still a source of attraction for his female fans.

1989 – He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as a Golden Globe Award for Entertainer of the Year. He had met Queen Elizabeth II and several American presidents.

2000 – He was destined for album chart success, with the Universal records release of "Engelbert at his very best" he hit the UK top 5 in the album charts.

2004 – He found himself at no 4 in the UK album charts following his appearance in a John Smiths bitter ad featuring Peter Kay. He is a patron of the charity County Air Ambulance, which is based in the East Midlands of England.

2005 – He put up his Harley-Davidson motorcycle up for auction on eBay to raise money for the Air Ambulance and other charities in Leicestershire.

2006 – Late this year, he appeared in a Christmas commercial for the office supplies store Staples.