And that’s all for now
Do you prefer building sandcastles or snowmen?
Guardian contributor
'I was proud that a Leicester lad stopped the mighty Beatles'
You famously stopped the Beatles’ consecutive No 1 set of singles when Release Me beat Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane. But which of those two Beatles songs do you prefer? And who is your favourite Beatle?
Guardian contributor I'll be honest with you - I was proud of the fact that a Leicester lad stopped the mighty Beatles, who I adore, with a song that came from Nashville. It stopped them having their 13th number one - unlucky for them, but lucky for me. I love all the Beatles, but I've only met Paul and Ringo.
Why is there a saddle in your living room?
What about the broad sword?
Doesn’t everyone have one of those?
Guardian contributor I got that in 1973. I was playing a rodeo, in a Houston arena, and my entrance to the concert on that particular day was on a horse. Named Blue, actually. I believe we had 73,000 people in the audience, a very memorable occasion, and I still have the saddle that they gave me. Sometimes when I go on holiday I still ride along the beach on a horse - but I'm not a good rider. I'm a Harley rider.
What do you recall of your 1967 tour with Cat Stevens and Jimi Hendrix on the same bill in support of the Walker Brothers? 1967. Great lineup!
Guardian contributor I consider the time with Cat Stevens, Hendrix and the Walker Brothers a very memorable time in my life - working with artists of that calibre was inspirational. I love Cat's writing, and his attitude in life - he did what he wanted to do and that's what I appreciate in people. Hendrix, I adored the man. He was very kind person to me, and offered me one of his jackets - I should have taken it but said, no, it's ok Jimi. The Walker Brothers, they were a talented pair of people. I thought that Scott had a very fine voice.
Is there any truth in the rumour that when you were very young, your dad, Tommy, swapped you for a new trombone?
Guardian contributor I don't know who you're talking about! My father's name is not Tommy - but he did buy me my first ever saxophone, for which I thank him most sincerely.
I often used to sit under a signed photo of you in the Durham Ox pub in Leicester. I used to enjoy imagining that you at some point a habitue of this fine pub . Did you ever go there?
Guardian contributor I've been to many pubs in Leicester, and this may have been one of them - please forgive me for not being so precise in my answer!
Lineker or Vardy (or perhaps another)? Where does winning the league rank in all time “Best. Days. Ever”?
Guardian contributor I am a Leicester fan and I held the trophy in my hands. I like both Lineker and Vardy very much - Vardy is now in his prime, and a very fine and wonderful player. I'm very proud of being part of Leicester, and I happen to know the recent owner who passed in that awful accident, who was very much loved by the people of Leicester and around the world.
You have spoken about your wife having Alzheimer’s. What alternative therapies are you using to treat her and what effect are they having?
Guardian contributor The greatest cure is prayer, because no solution for the disease has come up as of yet. But I think you have to try everything possible, including stem cells, which I think is the way of the future. My wife had that right at the beginning of her illness - I took her to Germany and had it done, but I think it was a mite early in the time of stem cells. But maybe it did have something to do in keeping her as long as I have, and thank God I have her. I do use other methods besides the medical world - I use electrical acupuncture, which is also a form of creating new stem cells. And I also use holistic medicine, which I've found instrumental in one of my early illnesses that I had which other doctors couldn't cure, but this holistic doctor in Germany took away in two weeks. I had an infection and I was cold all the time - no one knew what it was and it scared me. Until someone told me about this holistic doctor in Hamburg - I visited him and he gave me some medicine and in two weeks the viral infection had gone. He's no longer living - a sad loss.
I’ve heard you chose your stage name after a village in France called Moulins-Engilbert (where I reside). Is this true, or is the name from an 18th-century German composer? Please clear this up as there are rumours locally.
Guardian contributor I don't know where this village is, but Engelbert came to me from the composer of Hansel and Gretel. Gordon Mills, my manager, chose it originally. It's difficult to sign, and say, and to put up on a marquee - but it's served its purpose well.
If you were to introduce yourself to your guests with lists of your hits, which ones would you start with?
Guardian contributor I think that's a trick question, because I think you get introduced to other people singing your songs to you - the one that is sung in airports, in my face, everywhere, is Please Release Me. It's remained my signature song and has remained the greatest asset of my life ever.
Have you ever met someone with a better name than yours?
Guardian contributor
What’s your favourite Pixar film?
Guardian contributor I'm going to have to ask my grandchildren and get back to you...
What is the one song you play at home that helps you relax to the maximum?
Guardian contributor The music I play at home is usually still connected to my business work of performing, because i'm often looking for other people's material to put into my show. So whatever I hear, I try to see if it will suit my performance on stage. I love listening to music, especially when it comes from performers that are trying to make a living like I did when I started, and I see them on shows like The Voice. These singers are usually given songs that are current, and that gives me a chance to listen to them without listening to the Top 40.
Leicester or Los Angeles?
Guardian contributor Well I have to tell you, I have lived in both - Leicester, being my home, is my favourite. My family live in the area and frequent my home and make life really wonderful for me. But LA has been very kind to me too - the people of America have opened their arms to a Brit in a very wonderful way. The music has a lot to do with it, and I thank them for that.
What’s your favourite Christmas song of all time and why?
Guardian contributor I think my favourite Christmas song of all is Silent Night - which is on my album and past albums. Each time I've recorded it it's had a different feeling, a different musical feeling, and this last one means more to me than anything, because I dedicated the album to my music director of many years, Jeff Sturgess, who passed away recently and was with me since 1973. When I asked him to do this arrangement, he wasn't in a good condition, but he wanted to do it - he finished it, and I think it's one of the most wonderful arrangements of Silent Night I've ever heard.
Hi Engelbert. In the picture, are you in your local or your house?
Guardian contributor Yes, that's my home in Leicester. It's a lovely pub - I love to enjoy, on my first step into the UK, a pint of bitter.
Do you still ride your Harley-Davidsons?
Guardian contributor Yes I do. I love riding. I learned how to ride in the British Army, I was a dispatch rider for a while, and it stayed in my blood. I've had Harleys on both sides of the Atlantic, so I'm a lover of a Harley motorcycle. It's the friendliest batch of people you can come across, Harley riders. If you break down with a Harley, another rider will stop and give you a hand - but if you don't have a Harley, you'll have to call the AA.
I heard on your interview you usually spend Christmas with the family. Do they call you Uncle Engelbert or Uncle Arnold?
Guardian contributor Yes, and there are members who are nieces and nephews who call me Uncle - I have a very respectful family. They call me "Uncle Enge".
You’re into darts … any photos of faces on your dartboard?
Guardian contributor No, darts is not where I take out my anger. I don't put faces on a dartboard. I just love the game, and I think I play it very well. I've played with some professionals in my life - as a matter of fact, the late Eric Bristow influenced my darts in a big way. I used to watch him play, and his cocky attitude was the best thing I ever saw. He was so confident. And I used that confidence when I played darts. Later I got to play him in Las Vegas, and I beat him, because I gave him too much to drink. So when he came to England he arranged to play at my pub in Leicester - we played five games and he beat the living daylights out of me. We played five games and I only won one. Bravo Eric!
The only questions I would ask would be of a romantic/sexual nature , not fit for public comsumption. But come on … how many, how long! You will be ‘Released’ soon enough!
Guardian contributor How many sexual partners have I had, do you ask? Well it's for me to know and for you to find out.
I am so glad you gave LittleJoe1 this answer Engelbert.
I heard a live version of Love is All from your TV show in (I guess) the 70s that blew the recorded version away. Do you feel your interpretation of a song tends to improve the more chances you get to sing it live? Also, do you give yourself much room for improvisation when singing live (never had the pleasure of attending a show).
Guardian contributor Yes, I do believe that you improve each time you sing the song - you try to throw in a different format and make it better. I do sing the songs I sang in the past better today, I think. But at the time, it seemed OK. And it became successful, so it had to be OK! People don't choose what they don't want to hear.
Would you prefer to fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?
Guardian contributor In the question you have given me, if you can handle it, so can I.
'I wish Eurovision wasn't so political'
Do you regret doing Eurovision?
Guardian contributor No, I don't. I think to be chosen to sing for your country is a big compliment. I just only wish that it wasn't so political. End of comment.
In your autobiography What’s in a Name? you report seeing UFOs over your swimming pool in late 1981. Have you had any further run-ins with the unexplained or supernatural?
Guardian contributor I do believe I did see UFOs, in Leicester. My wife's mother was staying with us at that time, and she saw it first, and reported it to us - and yes, there were three UFOs sat up there, very vivid. I said: I wish I had a camera. And as I said that, they took off, and were out of sight within seconds. It was recorded the next day that they saw the same thing as I saw. So it's not phooey! I haven't seen anything after that, as far as UFOs are concerned.
Do you remember singing with my father – Ray Thorne?
Guardian contributor I've sung with so many people, and he may have the same name as people I've already worked with - if I have, I hope he remembers it! Because my memory has been spread out over the world so many times, that names sometimes come and go and I don't remember each and every one.
Have you considered recording a CD of all the original songs you have written?
Guardian contributor The thought has occurred many times, but I'm not that great a songwriter, so it would take me a lifetime to make one album. But I do enjoy composing and creating, just as I do with my poetry. But I think there are better songwriters than me around, and I would rather use their work.
What vitamins do you take! You look 50 and have more energy than me. And I am just turning 50 today !
Guardian contributor The vitamins I take are the usual - you can get a vitamin pill that has everything your body requires. But I particularly love oregano - I take that every morning and it stops you catching a cold. Everybody is different, so find out what suits you best, with trial and error. I also drink plenty of water - a litre each morning. It starts your metabolism working properly. A great deal of your body consists of water, so you need to give your body back what it consists of. I also like to put citrus fruit in it, like a lemon, which has a cleansing action - I suppose it comes from ancient times, when scurvy hit the ships of England and they used limes to cure it.
My mom, Ruthie, has Alzheimer’s and as you know how difficult it is for us, the family, I was hoping to get some ideas from you as what I could do to help stabilise her memory. It is getting worse every day.
Guardian contributor It's a difficult subject you're talking about. I know they say there's no cure, but keep a positive mind, and keep doing things other than western medicine - try eastern medicine, herbal medicine, try everything, because where there's life, there's hope. Don't give up. I believe there is a cure and you can find it, as I'm trying to find it myself. My wife has been ill for a number of years, but is beginning to talk again, so some of the medication I'm using is working. The reason I went public with it is to let people like you pray for her, because I think the power of prayer is a medicine we all require. Stay with it.
Have you considered recording a CD in Spanish?
Guardian contributor Yes I have - I dearly love the language, it has a very romantic sound. I have recorded songs in Spanish before - yes, maybe one day I will do a full album.
I read your book & loved learning more about your life especially about the hard times you lived through ie: surviving TB and the hardships you endured until you became an “overnight success” at the age of 30 (you left school at age 15 to hone your craft as a balladeer). How do you remain optimistic? Also, will you publish your poems and write a sequel to your book about your life? I love you to the moon and back.
Guardian contributor My book, What's In a Name, I thought people should know everything about me. And having hard times is what makes you a real person, I think. God nearly took my life at a very early age, but he also saved my life, and gave me what I've got today. At 17 when I became a singer, when I went into a little club and got up and sang a song, that other people were doing at the time - not realising it was an audition for a working men's club act. Which I got a standing ovation for. And I'd never sung in public before. People asked me who my agent was, and I said I wasn't sure what that was. That's how I got into the business - I started to work out what keys I sang in, and started singing in these clubs. And with that experience, and an apprenticeship working in those clubs, it took me to the heights I'm at now, which I'm very proud of. It gave me the passport of music that has taken me around the world several times.
You knew my uncle John Edward Humphries. He was in the army with you. He died in 2013. He used to come backstage to see you with my auntie Annette Humphries; do you remember him?
Guardian contributor I was in the army so many years ago, and I met so many wonderful people - and John was one of those wonderful people. I'm sorry he's gone. But he's left his mark and that's why we're talking about him today. I consider myself a lucky man to have come across name like John Edward Humphries, served side by side with them.
Enge, Will you ever do a book of your poetry? I want one … Yoli
Guardian contributor Yes, I've been contemplating a book of quotes and poetry, and that's why I write on a daily basis. It gives people an idea of what I stand for, and how my thinking takes me, so therefore a book of poems is a very appropriate way of me expressing my life to people who enjoy my work.
I do crosswords every morning, and I choose a word that crops up, that can expand itself into a storyline - that word makes it happen to me. I mostly write about things that have happened in my life - it's about me, and I have to tell you, one of my first presidents of my fan clubs wrote thousands of poems about me. I still have them in my possession. Six books of poetry about me. It's so interesting that one person could write that much about a person they admire.
Do you have a special method for choosing your songs for your tour?
Guardian contributor This is the most difficult part of my job as a singer. I've recorded so many songs, done so many albums, that some of the great songs seem to go by the wayside - because people tend to want to hear the hits. Choosing the material is a very difficult task, and preparation is harder than work, and so it takes a lot of headaches and nightmares to try and sort next year's choice of concert. But nevertheless, it does happen. And hopefully I make the right choices. And according to social media, they enjoy it!
Guardian contributor I should add: I do read comments on my performances that people put on Facebook and Instagram and other social media.
I would most like to have met Nat King Cole
Who would you like to meet that you have never met before? Who inspired you the most in your lifetime?
Guardian contributor The person who really inspired me as a singer is the great Nat King Cole. Because he took a song and moulded in a such a way that no-one else has ever done, and he brings it to life in a very charming way. I think I took that attitude in the way I sang.
You once said you would have liked to have dinner with Winston Churchill and have a good talk with him. Who of all the singers that you have met would you like to sing with today and why?
Guardian contributor Yes, I do admire Winston Churchill, for his life must have been very interesting. Not only was he a great leader, but his speeches and his quotes have all been very instrumental in changing people's lives. I think the most prominent one I can think of is: "procrastination is the thief of time". Never was a truer word said in my life - I never put off until tomorrow what I can do today, and that idea came from the great man.
I have sang with some of them, but the only one I didn't get to sing with, although I befriended him, was the great Elvis Presley. That's the saddest thing I'm having to live through. But I've sung with Ray Charles, Dean Martin, people in the past who have been influential in many singers' lives. Bing Crosby has been a huge mentor in people's lives as far as singing is concerned, and I sang with him.
he younger people in the world, I've yet to sing with - Ariana Grande would be one of them. I think she is very talented in many respects - very versatile and very good at impressions. A person who does impressions are very interesting people - they take on so many different colours, and I think that's a big talent in a person's life. I say that, because I used to do impersonations myself!
Enge, when you have an idea for a song you would like to write, do you choose the song title first, and then the lyrics, or can you please share what works the best for you?
Guardian contributor I'm not really a songwriter but I have written a number of songs, and personally I think you start with the title - once you have that, you have something to work on.
Sometimes melodies come into my head first, and this mostly happens in my dreams. Somehow, I'm touched in the middle of the night and I wake up and I get the melody idea onto a tape machine or my phone by the side of the bed - because if I don't, by the morning the melody will have gone.
Hi Enge. How much of your life is reflected in the songs you sing? What is your favourite song and do you plan on any “meet and greets” in Wendover, Nevada?
Lynn in Idaho
Guardian contributor I have to tell you that most songs have stories that I've probably lived. So singing them is an easy task for me - I just recall moments of my past life that the song reflects on and it definitely helps to deliver the song in a more sincere way.
Hi Engelbert do you remember me? In 2010 when I was seven, you invited me to sing Love Me With All Your Heart on stage with you. I’m now almost 16 and wanted to say that you and your music influenced me to be a singer myself. I’ve learned a lot from you with seeing how you capture an audience and how you use your own special techniques on stage. I was just at one of your recent shows in October at the Sands casino. I have always wanted to talk with you in person. My dream is for you and I to sing a duet together.
I also have some other questions – such as would you consider doing duets with people like Paul Anka, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand and Carole King? My other question is, would you think about recording all the songs that you haven’t recorded since your early years in the business?
Guardian contributor I don't remember that at all! But I want to tell you that I have been in the business for 50 years or more and many people have touched my life and you may have been one of them - forgive me for not remembering. If it did occur then I do hope and wish that I said something that will influence your future.
As far as recording with the other people you mentioned, they're all wonderful singers, I haven't had the opportunity to sing with any of them but if the occasion arises I would be happy to oblige.
I read your autobiography and started translating this book into Russian (so far, only five pages). Although my English isn’t very strong, can I ask you at what age did you realise that God gave you good looks and that you don’t have “car-bumper lips”(as you wrote in your autobiography)? And I believe that you are kissed by God to touch the lives of many people and influence them without knowing it. Do you agree?
Guardian contributor I have to tell you that I wasn't born a person with great looking features. I was always made fun of at school because of my nose and my fat lips. But I do thank God for letting it go back into proportion in the latter part of my life. There's no detriment with fat lips, or with any features - life is what you make it, and I make the best with what I had.
I feel God has touched me, in the way I can touch people with my music, which I do believe is a God-given gift.
Engelbert is with us now …
Post your questions for Engelbert Humperdinck
Over the course of a career spanning more than 50 years, Arnold George Dorsey, AKA Engelbert Humperdinck, 82, has become known for more than just his arresting stage name. Beginning his career on the nightclub circuit of late 1950s London, he was spotted by Tom Jones’s manager Gordon Mills, who encouraged the name change – a homage to the 19th-century German operatic composer of Hansel and Gretel. Mills then had Humperdinck work with Frank Sinatra songwriter Bert Kaempfert and together they produced his first number one, Release Me, in 1967.
Since then, Humperdinck has become an icon of the crooning ballad, selling more than 150m records and building a discography with more than 70 albums. He fronted his own TV show in 1969, featuring guests such as Tony Bennett, Shirley Bassey and Ray Charles, and has collaborated with Paul Anka and the Bee Gees. Recent years have seen Humperdinck represent the UK at the 2012 Eurovision song contest, the second oldest performer to take part in the competition, and almost collaborate with Gorillaz on their album Plastic Beach – his manager erroneously rejected Damon Albarn’s offer in a move Humperdinck has called “the most grievous sin ever committed”.
Following the release of his sixth Christmas album, Warmest Christmas Wishes, Humperdinck joined us to answer your questions about his life and music, in a live webchat on Wednesday 5 December.
Updated
To all the other people who posted questions, I'm sorry we ran out of time - hopefully next time! All the best.