Birthday Honours 2021: Singer Engelbert Humperdinck awarded MBE

Engelbert Humperdinck at his home in Leicester before flying to sing in the Eurovision Song contest in Azerbaijan in 2012

Engelbert Humperdinck said he is "thrilled" and "touched" after being awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

The 85-year-old - born Arnold George Dorsey - is to receive the honour for "services to music", the latest honour in a star-studded career.

It comes months after Patricia, his wife of 57 years, died after contracting Covid-19.

The Leicester-raised crooner said it was a poignant "Moment In Time".

"This Son of Leicester is lucky and blessed indeed," he added.

Humperdinck pictured at his Las Vegas Walk of Stars dedication ceremony in July 2011 with wife Patricia, who died in February

Born in Chennai, then Madras, in India, the young Arnold Dorsey moved with his family to his father's hometown in 1946.

After a rocky beginning to his career under his real name, in 1967 a change of image and identity was suggested by his then-manager, and Engelbert Humperdinck was reborn.

He topped the UK singles charts twice that year - first with Release Me, then with The Last Waltz - even The Beatles were kept off the number one spot as his star rose.

Earning the nickname "The King of Romance", his trademark smooth delivery in emotional ballads secured him a legion of fans across the world, as well as selling more than 140 million records.

In a late career revival, he also represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 with the song Love Will Set You Free.

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In a statement, Mr Humperdinck said he was happy to be back home in Leicester after a long year, and paid tribute to his fans and family for their support.

"I know my parents and my wife, Patricia, would have been elated and proud of me and my MBE," he said.

"It is said that it takes a village to raise a child, and in my books, it takes a country to launch a singer. That is what it felt like for me.

"That support is a constant in my memory and I hope that I have served my country well as an ambassador through music worldwide."

Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck posing on their Rolls-Royces in 1969