Johnny Mathis at 79: New CD Set, Simpson’s Cameo

Singer Johnny Mathis began his career in music under most unusual circumstances. In 1956, right about the same time that he was offered the opportunity to become a professional singer, Mathis was also asked to try out for the U.S. Olympic Team. On his father’s advice, he opted to pursue the career in music and went on to become one of the most beloved singers of the 20th century.

Just two years later, Johnny became the first recording artist to release an album entitled “Greatest Hits”.

Change was in the air. 1956 was a major year for Elvis Presley with 5 big hits in Billboard’s Top 100 and instead of being the flash in the pan that some thought he was, that was followed up with 6 in 1957. Johnny Mathis also had 6 hits in the Top 100 in 1957 but there was no denying that a major shift in popular music was on the horizon. The executives at Columbia records may have thought they would get a best-seller with “Johnny’s Greatest Hits”, but the album remained in the Billboard Top 200 for a record 490 weeks (almost nine and a half years!), beating the 480-week run of “My Fair Lady”. It was a record that was not broken until the 1980s with Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”.

At 79 years old (September 30th birthdays), Johnny continues to perform and, most recently, has announced plans to release a 13-CD box set of albums he recorded for Mercury and Global Records from 1963 to 1967, when he left his longtime label, Columbia. “The Complete Global Albums Collection” will be released on Nov. 17 and includes 10 albums that have been digitally mastered. It also features an unreleased album of Broadway show tunes and two albums with other unreleased songs and non-album singles.

In this Q&A, Mathis also said his voice will be appearing in an upcoming episode of “The Simpsons”, in which he plays an English gardener who sings a little bit of different version of “Chances Are”.