Is it time for Engelbert Humperdinck to make his Glastonbury bow? (Picture: Getty)
British pop legend Englebert Humperdinck has his eyes set on becoming the oldest-ever performer at Glastonbury festival.
The 87-year-old singer, who was born in India during the period of British rule, rose to fame during the mid-60s and has sold over 140million records worldwide.
In 2012, Humperdinck, whose real name is Arnold Dorsey, (perhaps infamously) represented the UK at Eurovision, finishing in 25th place with just 12 points.
But now he’s planning a bigger comeback for summer 2024, which he hopes will see him surpass Burt Bacharach as the oldest-ever Glasto performer.
The famous Worthy Farm festival will take place between June 26 and June 30 in 2024, with headliners and the rest of the full line-up expected to be announced very soon.
The Last Waltz hitmaker, who’ll be 88 in May, said: ‘I wouldn’t mind doing Glastonbury. I’d have to have the right songs for that show. But my new project may give me that opportunity.’
Humperdinck has sold over 140million copies worldwide (Picture: Getty)
Speaking to The Sun, he expanded: ‘It’s out of my comfort zone and taking me into a different style, which may lead to Glastonbury.’
Humperdinck’s comments have come in the same week that a new collaboration between himself and Azerbaijani singer Emin has been released.
Now or Never, which is Emin’s 19th album studio album to date, is comprised entirely of Elvis Presley covers – Humperdinck, dad of four, features on the song Help Me Make It Through the Night.
Emin and the Release Me singer met each other at Eurovision 12 years ago – the night Loreen won the singing competition for the first time with her song Euphoria.
Could he be on the line-up for summer 2024? (Picture: Getty)
And it’s not the only time in recent history that the 2022 MBE recipient has been offered a chance to collaborate with much younger artists, having turned down the opportunity to work with Gorillaz in 2010 when he was aged 74.
But, these days, he blames his manager for the missed chance: ‘That was a terrible mistake. I would’ve jumped at the chance if they’d spoken to me.’
He continued, saying that the future might hold more invites: ‘Hopefully, with this new project, I’ll be able to work with these sort of people. I want to record with them.’
The Last Waltz singer could be down there in just a few months (Picture: Getty)
The Gorillaz album he had hoped to work on, Plastic Beach, did feature appearances from the likes of Bobby Womack, who died aged 70 in 2014, and Lou Reed, who was 71 upon his death in 2013.
During his career, Humperdinck scored two UK number ones – his singles have also spent a total of four years and seven months in the top 100 overall, while his albums have spent a total of five years and four months on the chart.
The Last Waltz spent five weeks at number one and beat competition from the likes of Tom Jones and Diana Ross and the Supremes to stay on top for so long.
Humperdinck initially performed under the name of Gerry Dorsey but soon adopted the name of a German composer, born in 1854, when he found it brought him more success.
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