Engelbert Humperdinck Credits Untied Shoelace With Saving His Life During Army Service
The veteran singer recalled how a minor wardrobe malfunction diverted him from a dangerous assignment.
Singer Engelbert Humperdinck, 90, revealed that an untied shoelace during his time in the British Army in 1954 inadvertently saved his life. Humperdinck, who enlisted at age 18, shared the anecdote on his podcast, "The Engelbert Humperdinck Show."
He explained that soldiers were assigned to different locations, such as Cyprus, Germany, or Belgium, through a random selection process. Humperdinck recounted that as he was lining up, he noticed his bootlace had come undone. He paused to tie it, which caused him to fall out of the immediate sequence.
"I ran after I tied my shoelace and stood where I possibly could in the front line, and they started counting Malaya, Cyprus, and I was the next one. Germany," he said. "I went to Germany. I was just I just missed Cyprus by one."
Humperdinck later learned that the soldiers who were assigned to Cyprus never reached their destination, as they were killed in an ambush en route to Nicosia. "I think God was watching over me because, later on, I found out all the people that went to Cyprus never got there," he stated.
The singer described his two-year service in Mulheim, Germany, as an "interesting couple of years." Humperdinck, born Arnold George Dorsey, achieved his breakthrough in 1967 with the song "Release Me." Throughout his career, he has sold over 140 million records, received four Grammy nominations, and earned a Golden Globe for entertainer of the year. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.