Music Icon Engelbert Humperdinck Reveals Dark Side of Music Industry

Music legend Engelbert Humperdinck opened up about the dark side of the music industry, particularly during the early years of his career.

During the September 30 episode of The Engelbert Humperdinck Show, the 90-year-old veteran singer talked about his struggles while pursuing a music career in his early 20s.

Humperdinck recalled making trips from Leicester to London in the late 1950s as he pursued his dream of becoming a singer. The singer went on to reveal that finding representation was a “very difficult task” because many agents pursued him for personal reasons instead.

“In those days, you know, a lot of the agencies were…the men that fancied men,” he said. “I had to go through a lot because I got chased a lot by agents.”

Humperdinck continued, “I was true to myself then. And I avoided all that, but I went through hell with that sort of thing.”

The “Release Me” crooner described the experience as refusing to participate in the music industry’s “casting couch.”

“Casting couch, it’s called the casting couch, right?” Humperdinck said. “Not in a Hollywood way, but in an agent’s way, you know. Every agent I went to was the same thing.”

Eventually, the singer found agent Sydney Myers, who invited him to stay at his apartment for six months.

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“Except I did find one guy that helped me out. He was a married man,” Humperdinck continued, adding that the agent’s wife also welcomed him into their home.

“And he was a meticulous man,” Humperdinck spoke fondly of Myers. “I liked him very much.”

The agent later helped Humperdinck secure a 42-week stint on the British music variety series Song Parade, where he performed under his birth name, Gerry Dorsey, before adopting the stage name Engelbert Humperdinck.