Engelbert Humperdinck And Janet Devlin Release Duet ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’

Call it a surprise pop pairing or a festive fairytale. Engelbert Humperdinck and Janet Devlin’s sumptuous cover of the Elvis classic, ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ is both a tender tribute with a modern twist and a cross-generational ode to love and loss that seeks solace in troubled times.

A duet performed from different perspectives, the magical song teams the legendary king of love ballads with the young, Irish star whose breakthrough came on X Factor. ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’, made famous by Elvis in his film Blue Hawaii, was Janet’s grandfather’s favourite song. In the week he passed away, the then 16-year-old performed it live on X Factor and it has been a fan favourite and staple of her set ever since.

Engelbert, who was friends with Elvis, caught the TV performance and was blown away. Before they’d ever met, the unlikely pair had an invisible bond. Three years ago, Janet attended Engelbert’s show at the Royal Court Theatre and, backstage, the two were finally introduced. Discussing their shared love of the song led to a plan this year to perform it together, in May, at Engelbert’s planned show at London’s Palladium.

When Coronavirus caused the concert to be cancelled, the pair, who are now label mates, vowed to record their version remotely. Lifted as a single from Engelbert’s new covers EP, ‘Sentiments’, the striking version beautifully blends Janet’s spectral, soulful vocals with Engelbert’s rich baritone. For the King of Love Ballads, as his fans have dubbed him for decades, the song is an affirmation of his feelings for the love of his life, his wife Patricia, and the sense of loss of communication he deals with every day as a result of her affliction with Alzheimer’s disease.

“I have always adored Can’t Help Falling In Love by my good friend Elvis when he recorded it almost 60 years ago,” says Engelbert. “This year when the opportunity arrived to record it as a duet with the incredible Janet Devlin I was intrigued as there is about the same age difference between us as to when it was first performed by Elvis and his leading lady in Blue Hawaii.

“Janet and I have performed it not as a love song, but as a loving tribute to people very near and dear to our hearts. I am dedicating it to my wife of 54 years, Patricia. Janet is dedicating it to her grandfather Michael. Together, we have created a new version which we believe packs an emotional punch with its hopeful message of love… especially in these difficult times.”

Janet, who released both her album, ‘Confessional’, and book My Confessional in 2020, said of the collaboration,

“This song holds so much emotion for me which spans nearly a decade. Performing it with Engelbert on stage would have been the icing on the cake, so you can imagine how disappointed we were when that couldn’t happen. But when I heard that we might be able to record it together, albeit remotely, I jumped at the chance! It might seem unconventional but the pairing really works, we were able to alternate and sing the lines that mean the most to us and of course, he’s an utter legend which made the experience all the more amazing!

On December 12th, Engelbert will perform his first ever Christmas Special, an exclusive and intimate concert which will be livestreamed from his home in California, featuring festive family favourites and seasonal songs.  Tickets and details HERE.

You can stream and download ‘Sentiments’ here, out now on OK! Good Records.

About the author

There’s a lot of music out there - good music. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. That doesn't mean we won't cover your old favourites - rather we hope to give you some new favourites as well.

We no longer accept unpaid PR agency work. We believe the creative arts have value, and this includes writing. As always, we will write about artists who contact us - or who we contact - for free - but we can no longer work free of charge for PR agencies. We work hard, we put in a lot of hours writing, and we ask that you respect that. Contact us for our very reasonable rates.

Follow us on: Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Myspace, Facebook, Spotify, Youtube. Drop us an email on hello@essesntiallypop.com

Comments

  1. Love love love all Englebert Humperdinck sings. Awesome he still comes out with new albums & has stayed married for 54 yrs!

Leave a Reply