Johnny Mathis

John Royce "Johnny" Mathis (born September 30 1935} is an American popular singer of African-American and Caucasian ancestry, and one of the few living male vocalists associated with traditional pop music.

Related Topics:
September 30 - 1935 - American - Singer - African-American - Caucasian

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Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas, and grew up in San Francisco, California. He began singing publicly at school and church events shortly after his father discovered his talents. His father wisely found him a voice teacher when he was about thirteen years old. He remains one of the very few popular singers who received years of professional voice training that included opera. He also was an athletic talent, earning four athletic letters in high school and a subsequent athletic scholarship to San Francisco State College; while there he was a basketball teammate with future Boston Celtics great Bill Russell. Mathis also remains a large part of San Francisco State College's sports history —in 1954 he broke Russell's high jump record by jumping six feet five inches (1.96 metres). At the time only four Olympic athletes had managed to clear this height. While training to become a teacher, he was talent-spotted at a concert and signed by Columbia Records. His most difficult decision was deciding whether to go to the Olympic tryouts he had been invited to or go to make his first recordings which were released in 1956. While Mathis opted for a recording career, he has never completely abandoned his enthusiasm for sports. An avid golfer who has completed a minimum of five holes-in-one, he has hosted several tournaments in his name in the USA and the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Gilmer - Texas - San Francisco - California - San Francisco State College - Basketball - Boston Celtics - Bill Russell - Columbia Records

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Although frequently described, if not pigeonholed, as a romantic singer, his vast discography covers jazz, traditional pop, Brazilian and Spanish music, soul/R&B, soft rock, and Broadway/Tin Pan Alley standards. He enjoyed some early cinematic visibility when he sang one of his first hits, "It's Not for Me to Say", in the film, Lizzie, in which he also had a small acting role. Mathis also remains highly synonymous with holiday music, having recorded six original Christmas albums. He has recorded over 100 albums of original music, sold more than 215 million albums and singles worldwide. Approx 130 million sales in the USA and fifty million U.K. sales alone. He has the distinction of having the longest stay of any recording artist on the Columbia Record label. He remains one of the few recording artists who have recorded original material and remained a popular concert attraction in six decades beginning in the 1950s.

Related Topics:
Discography - Jazz - Traditional pop - Brazilian - Spanish - Soul - R&B - Broadway - Tin Pan Alley - It's Not for Me to Say - Christmas

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Johnny Mathis came out as gay in 1982 to People (magazine).

Related Topics:
Gay - People (magazine)

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Some of his hit songs include: "Chances Are, "It's Not for Me to Say", "Misty", "Wonderful Wonderful", "When a Child Is Born", "Too Much Too Little Too Late" (with R&B singer Deniece Williams), "Heavenly", "The Twelveth of Never", "Gone, Gone, Gone", "You Light up My Life" (a cover of the original recording by Debby Boone), and "Feelings" (a cover of the original recording by Brazilian crooner Morris Albert).

Related Topics:
Chances Are - Deniece Williams - Debby Boone - Morris Albert

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Other hit songs include "Wild Is the Wind", "A Certain Smile", "I'm Coming Home", and the original recording of the Thom Bell–Linda Creed composition "Life Is a Song Worth Singing", later made popular by Soul/R&B vocalist Teddy Pendergrass.

Related Topics:
Thom Bell - Linda Creed - Teddy Pendergrass

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Mathis continues to perform and record regularly and his latest album, 2005's Isn't It Romantic: the Standards Album, has been enthusiastically received by critics.

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