Back in the 1970s, Elvis Presley and Engelbert Humperdinck were contemporaries and would often bump into each other backstage in Las Vegas.
Speaking exclusively with Express.co.uk in promotion of his new Elvis duet with EMIN, the 87-year-old legend shared fond memories of his old friend, The King of Rock and Roll.
The singer said: “Elvis was a year older than me, so he had a little bit more experience.
“He was a great character and I admired him a great deal. And I can honestly say that I learned a lot from watching him work on stage.
“He was very, very nice, very honest, and very humble and charismatic. And he never took his image seriously.”
Asked about their Las Vegas years together, Engelbert spoke of them both going to see each other’s shows. And when the Brit performed at the International Hotel where The King had his residences, he would stay in the Elvis suite at the top of the building on the 30th floor.
He shared: “It was just a magical place to be. When he passed away there was a lot of mystery going on up there.” Staying there one night, the singer requested a tape to learn lyrics to a song but then something spooky started happening.
Engelbert remembered: “When we got this tape, I put it in the machine and the machine ate the tape. And I thought to myself, ‘This is a brand new machine… I think this is the work of Elvis!’
“I went to bed that night and had the light on and it kept switching off every time I turned it back on. And my hair stood up and I said Elvis, ‘Why are you doing this to me? I’m your friend!’ But I think he was just making himself known and wanted to say, ‘Thank you for being in my suite and thank you for being my friend.’”
Engelbert has a new Elvis cover duet out of Help Me Make It Through The Night with regular collaborator EMIN, who sees both singers as his idols.
The song is a single from the Azerbaijani singer’s new Elvis covers album Now or Never, which was produced by David Foster, who was once married to The King’s old flame Linda Thompson.
EMIN said: “There’s nobody better on this planet than David Foster, to deliver this in a very classical, credible way and for maintaining the DNA of these songs, making them sound contemporary enough to appeal to a young audience. But at the same time, keeping all the beautiful arrangements and strings that were embedded in this music 50, 60 years ago. I think he’s done an absolutely beautiful job executing that.”
EMIN’s new album Now or Never is out now featuring the single Help Me Make It Through The Night with Engelbert Humperdinck.
