10 February 2024 , 09:00
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Engelbert Humperdinck is honouring his longtime pal Elvis Presley in his latest music linkup with Baku-born artist EMIN - but there's one thing the King of Rock n Roll "stole" from him that still leaves the Release Me singer all shook up.
Engelbert, 87, and Elvis formed an extremely close bond during their time in the spotlight, including big performances in Las Vegas. However, the Brit still hasn't forgotten the iconic part of the Hound Dog singer's image he said he was first to showcase.
Engelbert - whose real name is Arnold Dorsey - claims the man from Mississippi "took the sideburns" look from him early on in his career. "I had it first," the Last Waltz singer told The Mirror. "He took it from me and I told him so," he continued with a chuckle before saying: "I didn't realise I'd befriend this man. Elvis was a great character."
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Engelbert Humperdinck and Elvis Presley (Engelbert Humperdinck)Revealing the touching reason the pair grew so close, Engelbert went on to admit Elvis had told his bodyguards of their strong friendship. One of the American's former minders was later asked as part of an autobiography why the rock n' roll legend liked Engelbert so much. Engelbert revealed he said it was because he reminded him of the brother he lost. Elvis had a twin brother named Jesse Garon who sadly died during their birth. The comment was one Engelbert admitted really flattered him.
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The veteran singer went on to confess the important life traits he was taught by the legendary star throughout their friendship, both professionally and personally. "He taught me humility," Engelbert confessed. "When you see him work, you realise the traits that he had. I recognise them very easily because there was a lot of honesty in his performance and he never took his image seriously. As a performer, for me, he was the best I've ever seen, so I stole a lot from him."
EMIN and Engelbert Humperdinck performing Help Me Make It Through The Night (EMIN)Now, as he releases a cover version alongside EMIN of Elvis' tune Help Me Make It Through The Night, the Quando Quando Quando singer has confirmed why he feels Elvis will always will be one of the biggest icons in the world of music. He also shared why he chose to work on this track at this time.
"He is the most impersonated man in the world," Engelbert said with a smile. "His legacy of music is something to be admired and that's probably one of the reasons why EMIN took his songs and recorded them and paid tribute to him."
The album has been created with the help of 16x Grammy award-winning music arranger David Foster, with Engelbert gushing you simply "can't get any better production than you're hearing".
On choosing to work with Engelbert on the hit, EMIN added: "David [Foster] told me with the two voices and key changes we have, he can make it really beautiful, and it really did. Even for us it's a bit challenging sometimes. It goes somewhere you're not expecting it to go."
He continued: "For me, I love Elvis. I always had an Elvis song or two in my show for the last 20 years and was wanting to do it [an album]. To to have your own twist on it, but at the same time not to lose the DNA of those songs, was crucial and I think David has done tremendous work on delivering that result."
The album also features collaborations with Nicole Scherzinger (Love Me Tender) and Katherine McPhee (It's Now Or Never). Such inclusions, EMIN says, have helped add "a lot of credibility to the album".
Emin's new album Now or Never is out now featuring the new single "Help Me Make It Through The Night" with Engelbert Humperdinck.