Winding Road

Engelbert Humperdinck

The British crooner who originally performed under the name Gerry Dorsey didn't become a star until after he began calling himself Engelbert Humperdinck (after the 19th-century classical composer who wrote the opera HANSEL AND GRETEL). Throughout the 1960s and '70s, the younger Humperdinck's manly baritone, photogenic, leading-man image, and romantic balladry made him a bona fide pop star. He scored numerous hits, mostly with grand-scale love ballads such as "Release Me" and "A Man Without Love." Even after the hits stopped coming, though, he never ceased to be a major concert attraction. And unlike many of his contemporaries his voice became richer with age, and his style more soulful, so that he earned a Grammy nomination for his 2003 gospel album ALWAYS HEAR THE HARMONY.