page_title: Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)
section_title: 21st century
hierarchical_section_title: Engelbert Humperdinck (singer) / Career / 21st century
caption_attribution_description: English: Closing Night at the Orleans Showroom,Las Vegas,NV 10-31-2008
context_page_description: Engelbert Humperdinck is an English pop singer. Humperdinck has been described as "one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around." His singles "Release Me" and "The Last Waltz" both topped the UK music charts in 1967, and sold more than a million copies each. In North America, he also had chart successes with "After the Lovin'" and "This Moment in Time". He has sold more than 140 million records worldwide.
context_section_description: Humperdinck's recording career has continued into the new century, with a range of musical collaborations. In 2000, he hit the top five of the British album charts with Engelbert at His Very Best, and returned to the top five four years later, after he appeared in a John Smith's TV-advertisement. In the spring of 2003, Humperdinck collaborated with the American Grammy Award-winning artist-producer Art Greenhaw to record the roots gospel album Always Hear the Harmony: The Gospel Sessions; joining Humperdinck on the album were the Light Crust Doughboys, the Jordanaires and the Blackwood Brothers. The critically acclaimed album was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year", while Humperdinck was photographed with generations of fans at the 2004 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. He was back in the studio soon after, releasing Let There Be Love in 2005. Music critics have remarked on the historical span of material in the album, from songs first made popular in the 1920s to more recent ones from the 1990s, and point especially to Humperdinck's version of Nick Lowe's "You Inspire Me" as a noteworthy cut. In 2007, Humperdinck released The Winding Road. In a conversation with Larry King, Humperdinck discussed the genesis of the album; he pointed out that The Winding Road featured songs exclusively by British composers, as a "tribute to [his] home country", released as it was to mark 40 years since his first international hit recording.
  During the recording of the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, Humperdinck was asked by Damon Albarn to contribute to the album as a guest artist. The singer's management at the time, however, declined the offer without Humperdinck's knowledge. Describing the event, Humperdinck stated that the missed opportunity was, "the most grievous sin ever committed", and that he would have gladly collaborated with the Gorillaz. He added that he had since parted ways with his then-management, handing over duties to his son, Scott Dorsey. At the end of the interview, Humperdinck observed: "I'd really like to rekindle that suggestion again and bring it back. Hopefully they will ask me again. My son Scott will definitely say yes".
  On 1 March 2012, the BBC announced that Humperdinck would represent the United Kingdom in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, to be staged in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 26 May. The song, "Love Will Set You Free" was unveiled on 19 March 2012, produced by Grammy Award-winning music producer Martin Terefe and co-written by Sacha Skarbek. The song was recorded in London, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee, and was mixed by Thomas Juth in London. When Humperdinck's participation was announced, he was set to become the oldest singer to ever participate in the contest at the age of 76. He was however overtaken in the same year when the Buranovskiye Babushki performed later on that night. During the final allocation draw, the United Kingdom was drawn to perform first. Humperdinck eventually finished in 25th place out of 26, coming in second to last in the voting, with 12 points.
  With a rapid series of recordings, the artist showed no signs of slowing the pace of his work in the 2010s. A career-first double-CD of duets, Engelbert Calling, was released in the United Kingdom in March 2014 by Conehead Records, charting in the UK Top 40. The album finds the singer in the studio with musicians like Charles Aznavour, Elton John, Il Divo, Johnny Mathis, Lulu, Willie Nelson, Olivia Newton-John, Cliff Richard, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Neil Sedaka, Ron Sexsmith, Gene Simmons and Dionne Warwick. The album was released in North America by OK! Good Records on 30 September 2014, with Humperdinck making a number of promotional appearances on radio and television, including an extended conversation with Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani on HuffPost Live. A Special Edition Vinyl EP with four tracks from the album was released in May 2015. According to OK! Good Records, the EP was Humperdinck's first vinyl release after a gap of twenty-five years, "a limited-edition
caption: Humperdinck in 2008
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