45 Facts About Johnny Mathis

John Royce Mathis was born on September 30,1935 and is an American singer of popular music.

Johnny Mathis has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three recordings.

Johnny Mathis is the third best-selling artist of the 20th century, selling 360 million records worldwide.

Johnny Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas, on September 30,1935, the fourth of seven children of Clem Johnny Mathis and Mildred Boyd, both domestic cooks.

The family moved to San Francisco when Johnny was five years old, settling on 32nd Avenue in the Richmond District, where Mathis would grow up.

Johnny Mathis's father had worked in vaudeville as a singer and pianist, and upon realizing his son's talent, bought an old upright piano for $25 and encouraged his music.

Johnny Mathis began learning songs and routines from his father; his parents ran his fan club.

Johnny Mathis started singing and dancing for visitors at home, at school, and at church functions.

When Johnny Mathis was 13, voice teacher Connie Cox accepted him as her student in exchange for work around her house.

Johnny Mathis studied with Cox for six years, learning vocal scales and exercises, voice production, classical and operatic singing.

Johnny Mathis eulogized Saunders at his funeral in 2008, thanking him for giving Johnny Mathis his first chance as a singer.

Johnny Mathis was a star athlete at George Washington High School in San Francisco.

Johnny Mathis was a high jumper and hurdler, and he played on the basketball team.

Johnny Mathis became his music manager, and found Mathis a job singing weekends at Ann Dee's 440 Club.

At San Francisco State, Johnny Mathis had become noteworthy as a high jumper, and in 1956 he was asked to try out for the US Olympic Team that would travel to Melbourne that November.

On his father's advice, Johnny Mathis opted to embark on a professional singing career.

Mathis's first record album, Johnny Mathis: A New Sound In Popular Song, was a slow-selling jazz album, but Mathis stayed in New York City to sing in nightclubs.

Miller preferred that Johnny Mathis sing soft, romantic ballads, pairing him with conductor and music arranger Ray Conniff, and later, Ray Ellis, Glenn Osser, and Robert Mersey.

In November 1957, Johnny Mathis released "Wild Is the Wind", which featured in the film of the same name and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Johnny Mathis performed the song at the ceremony in March 1958.

Later in 1958, Johnny Mathis made his second film appearance for 20th Century Fox, singing the song "A Certain Smile" in the film of that title.

Johnny Mathis had two of his biggest hits in 1962 and 1963, with "Gina" and "What Will Mary Say".

In October 1964, Johnny Mathis sued Noga to void their management arrangement, which Noga fought with a counterclaim in December 1964.

Johnny Mathis had the 1976 Christmas number one single in the UK with the song "When a Child Is Born" and later, in 1978, recorded "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" with singer Deniece Williams.

Johnny Mathis continues to perform live, but from 2000 forward, he limited his concert performances to about fifty to sixty per year.

Johnny Mathis is one of the last pop singers who travel with his own full orchestra.

On January 14,2016, Johnny Mathis performed to a sold-out audience in The Villages as part of his "60th Anniversary Concert Tour".

Johnny Mathis has had five of his albums on the Billboard charts simultaneously, an achievement equaled by only three other singers: Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, and Prince.

Johnny Mathis has released 200 singles and had 71 songs charted around the world.

Johnny Mathis has taped twelve of his own television specials and made over 300 television guest appearances, with 54 of them being on The Tonight Show.

Also in 1989, Johnny Mathis sang the theme for the ABC daytime soap opera Loving.

Johnny Mathis served as narrator for '51 Dons, a 2014 documentary film about the integrated and undefeated 1951 San Francisco Dons football team.

Johnny Mathis appeared in the Season 14 finale of Criminal Minds, "Truth or Dare", in which he played himself as an old friend of David Rossi and served as best man at Rossi's wedding.

Johnny Mathis is an avid golfer, with nine holes in one to his credit.

Johnny Mathis has hosted several Johnny Mathis Golf Tournaments in the United Kingdom and the US.

Johnny Mathis enjoys cooking and in 1982, he published a cookbook called Cooking for You Alone.

In 2006, Johnny Mathis said that his silence had been because of death threats he received as a result of that 1982 article.

In November 2015, Johnny Mathis returned home from a concert in Ohio to find his Hollywood house destroyed by a fire.

On June 21,2014, Johnny Mathis was inducted into the Great American Songbook Hall Of Fame along with Linda Ronstadt, Shirley Jones, and Nat King Cole.

Johnny Mathis's first occurred 20 years earlier in 1958, when he sang "Wild Is the Wind" by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington from the movie of the same name.

Johnny Mathis was awarded the Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

In 2007, Johnny Mathis was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In 1988, Johnny Mathis appeared as a guest vocalist, accompanied by Henry Mancini, on Late Night with David Letterman to sing Henry's theme to the "Viewer Mail" segment.

In 2011, Johnny Mathis received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member General Colin Powell.

Johnny Mathis attended San Francisco State for three semesters before withdrawing in 1956 to pursue his music career.