 |
Johnny Mathis
Age: 74
Height: 5' 7 1/2"
Birth Place: Gilmer, Texas, USA
Born: Sep. 30th, 1935
+ Add to My Celebs
|
Johnny Mathis' Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: He was the fourth of seven children born to Clement and Mildred Mathis. His father performed briefly in vaudeville and exposed all of the Mathis siblings to music. Before he entered his teens, young John received vocal lessons from Connie Cox in exchange for performing chores around her home. When he entered San Francisco State College he originally had planned to become a physical education instructor. At San Francisco State he broke classmate and basketball great Bill Russell (I)'s high jump record. While in college he began performing at a small local bar called The International Settlement, where he met performers Maya Angelou and Joan Weldon. Later performances at a club called The Blackhawk caught the attention of Columbia Records producer George Avakian. When Avakian called for Mathis to make his first recording, the young singer and then college track star had to make a unique decision: whether to record or to tryout for the 1956 Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia. He chose to make his first single "Wonderful, Wonderful". To date he has recorded over 100 albums with sales in excess of 180.0 million. More than 60 of his albums have been certified gold and/or platinum. "Johnny's Greatest Hits" (1958) remained on Billboard's pop album charts for 490 weeks. "Heavenly" remained on the pop charts for 295 weeks. An avid golfer and gourmet cook, Mathis continues to record and perform at the world's most prestigious venues and has earned a permanent place in American music history.
TRIVIA:
- Referenced in the song 'The Call of the Wild (Merengue)' by 'David Byrne (I)' (qv) on his 1989 album, 'Rei Momo'.
- As of 2004, he has had the longest stay of any popular artist with Columbia Records to date, having recorded for them almost exclusively since 1956.
- Early in his career, his then manager Helen Noga attempted to develop a feature film about the life of Black/Peruvian Indian saint Martin de Porres with Mathis portraying the Afro-Peruvian title role. This project, however, never reached fruition.
- Was a featured vocalist on the Grammy nominated (2004 awards) album "XXL" by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. Composer-arranger-pianist-saxophonist-band leader 'Gordon Goodwin' (qv) has remained a longtime friend of Mathis and was once his former pianist.
- Has the distinction of having an album - "Johnny Mathis' Greatest Hits" - on the Billboard charts for longer than any other album in history: 490 weeks, or the equivalent of 9-1/2 years.
- Went to high school with 'Lee Meriwether' (qv).
- Just two years after his first recordings, his 1958 record album "Johnny's Greatest Hits" (Columbia Records) started the "Greatest Hits" trend for recording artists and record companies; every record company thereafter began to release "Greatest Hits" albums for their recording artists.
- Track and Field Tournament at San Francisco State University, the Johnny Mathis Invitational, is named in his honour.
Johnny Mathis Photos | powered by  |
Previous |
Next (1)
Johnny Mathis Fans [0]
Page created in 0.0871 seconds
Facebook
Twitter
