Johnny Mathis | Academy of Achievement

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/","20200917235254","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1600386774"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="57x57" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="60x60" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="76x76" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="152x152" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-196x196.png" sizes="196x196"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-128.png" sizes="128x128"/> <meta name="application-name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#000000"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-144x144.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square70x70logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-70x70.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square150x150logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-150x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-wide310x150logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square310x310logo" content="https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x310.png"/> <link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600,400italic,600italic,700,700italic&display=swap" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">  <title>Johnny Mathis | Academy of Achievement</title> <meta name="description" content="Johnny Mathis was only 19 years old when a Columbia Records executive heard him singing in a San Francisco nightclub and decided to sign the teenage singer on the spot. After his first album, recorded in a jazz style, failed to register with the public, producer Mitch Miller guided Mathis to a more straightforward romantic sound, leading to hits like "Wonderful! Wonderful!" and "It's Not for Me to Say." A series of appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show made Mathis a national star, and at age 22 he had the number one record in the country, "Chances Are." In 1958, only two years into his recording career, he became the first artist to release a "Greatest Hits" collection. One of the bestselling records of all time, Johnny's Greatest Hits inaugurated the custom of "Greatest Hits" collections that continues to this day. Johnny Mathis continued to record Top 40 hits in each of the first four decades of his career, reaching number one again in 1978 with "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late." His velvet voice and impeccable phrasing have captured the hearts of listeners the world over. His mastery of American song has earned him the enduring affection of his public and the profound respect of his peers, who have honored him with the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, and a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame. For half a century, through all the changes in musical fashion, Johnny Mathis has sounded a pure note of romance, and brought magic to millions."/> <meta name="robots" content="index, follow"/> <meta name="googlebot" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1"/> <meta name="bingbot" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Johnny Mathis | Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:description" content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis was only 19 years old when a Columbia Records executive heard him singing in a San Francisco nightclub and decided to sign the teenage singer on the spot. After his first album, recorded in a jazz style, failed to register with the public, producer Mitch Miller guided Mathis to a more straightforward romantic sound, leading to hits like "Wonderful! Wonderful!" and "It's Not for Me to Say."</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">A series of appearances on <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i> made Mathis a national star, and at age 22 he had the number one record in the country, "Chances Are." In 1958, only two years into his recording career, he became the first artist to release a "Greatest Hits" collection. One of the bestselling records of all time, <i>Johnny's Greatest Hits</i> inaugurated the custom of "Greatest Hits" collections that continues to this day. Johnny Mathis continued to record Top 40 hits in each of the first four decades of his career, reaching number one again in 1978 with "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late."</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">His velvet voice and impeccable phrasing have captured the hearts of listeners the world over. His mastery of American song has earned him the enduring affection of his public and the profound respect of his peers, who have honored him with the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, and a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame. For half a century, through all the changes in musical fashion, Johnny Mathis has sounded a pure note of romance, and brought magic to millions.</span></p>"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2018-12-31T14:15:15+00:00"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mathis-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:width" content="2800"/> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1120"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@achievers1961"/> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@achievers1961"/> <script type="application/ld+json" class="yoast-schema-graph">{"@context":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/#organization","name":"Academy of Achievement","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/","sameAs":["https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-academy-of-achievement","https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChe_87uh1H-NIMf3ndTjPFw","https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_of_Achievement","https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://twitter.com/achievers1961"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/12.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Academy of Achievement"},"image":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/#website","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/","name":"Academy of Achievement","description":"A museum of living history","publisher":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/search/{search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mathis-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg","width":2800,"height":1120},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/#webpage","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/","name":"Johnny Mathis | Academy of Achievement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-04-18T18:59:52+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-31T14:15:15+00:00","description":"Johnny Mathis was only 19 years old when a Columbia Records executive heard him singing in a San Francisco nightclub and decided to sign the teenage singer on the spot. After his first album, recorded in a jazz style, failed to register with the public, producer Mitch Miller guided Mathis to a more straightforward romantic sound, leading to hits like \"Wonderful! Wonderful!\" and \"It's Not for Me to Say.\" A series of appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show made Mathis a national star, and at age 22 he had the number one record in the country, \"Chances Are.\" In 1958, only two years into his recording career, he became the first artist to release a \"Greatest Hits\" collection. One of the bestselling records of all time, Johnny's Greatest Hits inaugurated the custom of \"Greatest Hits\" collections that continues to this day. Johnny Mathis continued to record Top 40 hits in each of the first four decades of his career, reaching number one again in 1978 with \"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.\" His velvet voice and impeccable phrasing have captured the hearts of listeners the world over. His mastery of American song has earned him the enduring affection of his public and the profound respect of his peers, who have honored him with the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, and a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame. 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feature-area__blurb">Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement</h5> </div> </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </header> </div>  <nav class="in-page-nav row fixedsticky"> <ul class="nav text-xs-center clearfix" role="tablist"> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link active" data-toggle="tab" href="#biography" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Biography">Biography</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#profile" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Profile">Profile</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#interview" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Interview">Interview</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#gallery" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Gallery">Gallery</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <article class="post-1717 achiever type-achiever status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry careers-musician careers-singer"> <div class="entry-content container clearfix">  <div class="tab-content"> <div class="tab-pane active" id="biography" role="tabpanel"> <section class="achiever--biography"> <div class="banner clearfix"> <div class="banner--single clearfix"> <div class="col-lg-8 col-lg-offset-2"> <div class="banner__image__container"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-it-takes/id1025864075?mt=2" target="_blank"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <img class="lazyload banner__image" data-src="/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/WhatItTakes_mathis-256-190x190.jpg" alt=""/> </figure> </a> </div> <div class="banner__text__container"> <h3 class="serif-3 banner__headline"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-it-takes/id1025864075?mt=2" target="_blank"> Listen to this achiever on <i>What It Takes</i> </a> </h3> <p class="sans-6 banner__text m-b-0"><i>What It Takes</i> is an audio podcast produced by the American Academy of Achievement featuring intimate, revealing conversations with influential leaders in the diverse fields of endeavor: public service, science and exploration, sports, technology, business, arts and humanities, and justice.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <header class="editorial-article__header col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 text-xs-center"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> <h3 class="serif-3 quote-marks">We weren't poor, we just didn't have any money.</h3> </header> </div> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar clearfix"> <h2 class="serif-3 p-b-1">The Timeless Voice of Romance</h2> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> September 30, 1935 </dd> </div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><figure id="attachment_32210" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32210" style="width: 1546px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-32210 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-32210 lazyload" alt="Johnny Mathis's first public performance at a talent show in San Francisco. He won the contest, much to his surprise (his words), and was also about 13-14 years old at the time." width="1546" height="2028" data-sizes="(max-width: 1546px) 100vw, 1546px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco.jpg 1546w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco-290x380.jpg 290w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco-579x760.jpg 579w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-32210" class="wp-caption-text">13-year-old Johnny Mathis’ first public performance at a talent show in San Francisco. Johnny won the contest.</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis was born in the small town of Gilmer, Texas, but the family relocated to San Francisco before he reached school age. His mother, Mildred, worked as a housekeeper, his father Clem as a chauffeur. Of the seven children, Johnny took the greatest interest in music, to the delight of his father, who sang and played the piano. Clem Mathis taught Johnny his first songs, and soon the boy was singing in a church choir, at school assemblies, and on local television. By age 13, he was studying voice seriously with teacher Connie Cox, who gave him a thorough grounding in classical vocal technique. The young Johnny Mathis was also an outstanding athlete, playing on the George Washington High School basketball team and competing in track and field. After high school, he enrolled at San Francisco State to study English and physical education, with the intention of becoming a teacher. In college, he continued to compete in track and field, excelling at the high jump. He also began to sing in local nightclubs with the jazz band of his friend Virgil Gonsalves. One club owner, Helen Noga, was so impressed she offered to manage the young man’s singing career. Soon Mathis was singing every weekend.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_18693" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18693" style="width: 2230px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-18693 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-18693 size-full lazyload" alt="1956: Johnny Mathis arrives in New York City for his first session with Columbia Records.Johnny Mathis was only 19 when he signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. (Courtesy of Sony Music)" width="2230" height="3351" data-sizes="(max-width: 2230px) 100vw, 2230px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1.jpg 2230w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1-253x380.jpg 253w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1-506x760.jpg 506w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-18693" class="wp-caption-text">March 1956: Johnny Mathis arrives in New York City for his first session with Columbia Records. Johnny Mathis was only 19 years old when he signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. Mathis’s first record album, <em>Johnny Mathis: A New Sound in Popular Music</em>, was a slow-selling jazz album, but Mathis stayed in New York City to sing in nightclubs. His second album helped define the Mathis sound of soft, romantic ballads. (Courtesy of Sony Music)</figcaption></figure> <p>Noga invited record producer George Avakian to hear Mathis sing. Avakian, who headed the jazz department at Columbia Records, sent a famous telegram to the label’s New York office: “Have found phenomenal 19-year-old boy who could go all the way. Send blank contracts.” After signing Mathis to a contract with Columbia Records, Avakian returned to New York to plan the singer’s recording debut.</p> <figure id="attachment_7548" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7548" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-7548 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-7548 size-full lazyload" alt="Johnny Mathis excelled at the high jump as a student at San Francisco State. He passed up the Olympic trials for his first major label recording session. (AP Images)" width="2280" height="1721" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139-380x287.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139-760x574.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7548" class="wp-caption-text">Mathis excelled at the high jump at San Francisco State. He passed up the Olympic trials to make his first album.</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Meanwhile, Johnny Mathis returned to his studies and continued to attract the attention of the local press with his feats as a high jumper. He was invited to attend the 1956 Olympic trials, but by then, Avakian had scheduled a recording session in New York, and Mathis had a difficult choice to make. Music won out, and Johnny Mathis traveled to New York City to record his first record in March 1956. Avakian, who had only heard Mathis performing in a jazz context, produced an album in a similar vein, <i>Johnny Mathis: A New Sound In Popular Music</i>. Despite Johnny’s obvious talent, and the accompaniment of first-rate musicians, the record attracted little attention. Mathis remained in New York over the summer, performing in the city’s major nightclubs while Columbia reconsidered their approach.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Mitch Miller, the head of A&R (artists and repertoire) at Columbia, wanted to hear Mathis singing romantic ballads in a mainstream popular style, emphasizing the beauty of his voice and the clarity of his diction, rather than trying to make a jazz artist of him. Miller produced Mathis’s second session, that autumn, and came up with two hit singles, “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not for Me to Say.” Soon Mathis made his first motion picture appearance, singing “It’s Not for Me to Say” in the MGM film <i>Lizzie</i>. In June 1957, Mathis appeared on <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i> for the first time, and the singles he had recorded with Miller soon became major hits. Later that year, he recorded his biggest hit of all, “Chances Are,” which became the bestselling record in the country. It was followed quickly by his third Top Ten single, “The Twelfth of Never.”</span></p> <figure id="attachment_7557" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7557" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-7557 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-7557 size-full lazyload" alt="After the lukewarm reception to his debut album, Johnny Mathis caught fire with a series of hit singles. By age 22, he had the number one record in the country, "Chances Are." (Courtesy of Sony Music)" width="2280" height="3413" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01-254x380.jpg 254w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01-508x760.jpg 508w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7557" class="wp-caption-text">After the lukewarm reception to his debut album, in late 1956, Johnny Mathis caught fire with a series of popular romantic songs including, “Chances Are,” “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not for Me To Say.” (Sony Music)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1958, Columbia released a Johnny Mathis “Greatest Hits” collection. In subsequent years, such albums became a recording industry staple, but at the time they were unheard of, especially for a singer who had only been recording for two years. <i>Johnny’s Greatest Hits</i> became one of the bestselling records of all time, remaining on <i>Billboard</i> magazine’s Top Albums chart for nearly ten years. The same year saw the release of his first Christmas album; <i>Merry Christmas</i> would eventually sell over six million copies. Mathis made his second film appearance that year, singing the title song in <i>A Certain Smile</i>.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Helen Noga and her husband, John, moved to Beverly Hills in 1958, and Mathis joined them, living with the Noga family when he was not on the road performing. The year 1959 saw the release of another Mathis hit, the Erroll Garner song, “Misty.” Columbia Records kept Mathis busy recording albums of romantic ballads, show tunes and pop standards. More hits followed, including “Gina” and “What Will Mary Say,” but Mathis became dissatisfied with the direction of his career. In 1963 he moved from Columbia to Mercury Records and recorded a second Christmas album. The following year he brought legal action to be released from his management contract. Breaking with the Nogas, Mathis bought a house in the Hollywood Hills that would remain his principal residence for many years.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_7549" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7549" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-7549 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-7549 lazyload" alt="Mickey Rooney and Johnny Mathis onstage with Judy Garland in Hollywood, 1965. After Garland broke her arm on the day of a performance, Rooney and Mathis offered to appear with her and help her get through the show. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images)" width="2280" height="1480" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338-380x247.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338-760x493.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7549" class="wp-caption-text">Mickey Rooney and Johnny Mathis onstage with Judy Garland in Hollywood, 1965. After Garland broke her arm on the day of a performance, Rooney and Mathis offered to appear with her and help her get through the show. (AP)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Mathis returned to Columbia Records in 1967, with a greater degree of control over his career through production companies he founded with a friend and business partner, Ray Haughn. The 1960s brought enormous changes to the music industry, and Mathis scored fewer hit singles than before, but his albums continued to sell phenomenally well. At one point, he had five albums on the charts simultaneously.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">A demanding schedule of recording and touring eventually exhausted the singer’s formidable energy. An unscrupulous doctor prescribed amphetamines and other prescription drugs to keep Mathis going on the road. His efforts to quit the addictive medications without assistance undermined his health further. The combination of prescription drugs and excessive drinking threatened to derail his career. Mathis credits loyal friends with persuading him to seek the help he needed to free himself from his addictions.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_7550" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7550" style="width: 2269px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-7550 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-7550 size-full lazyload" alt="Johnny Mathis on the <i>Ed Sullivan Show</i> in 1967. His appearances on the popular Sunday night television program introduced him to a national audience in the 1950s, and he remained a frequent guest for the rest of the show's run. (© Bettmann/CORBIS)" width="2269" height="2941" data-sizes="(max-width: 2269px) 100vw, 2269px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120.jpg 2269w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120-293x380.jpg 293w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120-586x760.jpg 586w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7550" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Mathis on <em>The</em> <i>Ed Sullivan Show</i> in 1967. His appearances on the popular Sunday night television program introduced him to a national audience in the 1950s, and remained a frequent guest for the rest of the show’s run.</figcaption></figure> <p>A 1976 single, “When a Child Is Born,” topped the UK pop charts and sold over six million copies worldwide. In 1978, Mathis returned to the U.S. pop music charts with “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late,” a duet with R&B singer Deniece Williams. The song swept the country, and 20 years after he first topped the charts with “Chances Are,” Mathis scored his second number one hit. The success of the song led Mathis to record a series of duets with singers such as Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole and Gladys Knight. His 1978 album, <i>You Light Up My Life,</i> sold over two million copies.</p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Since overcoming his health problems, Mathis has made more time for hobbies and charitable pursuits. From childhood days, he enjoyed cooking, and over the years he has developed a formidable expertise in the kitchen. In 1982 he shared this talent with the public in a cookbook, <i>Cooking for You Alone</i>. The same year, he founded the Johnny Mathis Invitational Track and Field Meet at San Francisco State University. An extremely accomplished golfer, he hosted his own golf tournament, the Johnny Mathis Seniors PGA Classic, held in Los Angeles in 1985 and ’86. He later hosted a charity golf tournament, the Shell/Johnny Mathis Golf Classic, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_7552" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7552" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-7552 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-7552 size-full lazyload" alt="Johnny Mathis on stage in London, England in the early 1980's. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)" width="2280" height="2199" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337-380x367.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337-760x733.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7552" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Mathis performing on stage in London, England during the early 1980s. (David Redfern/Redferns)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 1984, Mathis’s longtime manager and business partner Ray Haughn died. Since then, Mathis has managed his career himself, from his offices in Burbank, California. Since turning 65 in the year 2000, Mathis has generally limited himself to between 50 and 60 live performances a year. He has continued to create successful recordings, including his five Christmas albums. It is estimated that Johnny Mathis has sold over 350 million records worldwide, more than any recording artists other than Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. To date, 73 of his nearly 100 albums have reached the Billboard Top Album charts, with 13 Gold Records (sales of over 500,000) and eight platinum, (sales of over a million copies), including three with sales of over two million. Of his 200 singles, 71 have charted worldwide. His recordings of “Chances Are” and “Misty” have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2003 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_7553" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7553" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-7553 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-7553 lazyload" alt="Johnny Mathis performs at the Academy of Achievement in Washington, D.C., 2011. (© Academy of Achievement)" width="2280" height="1520" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002-380x253.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002-760x507.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7553" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Mathis performs at the Academy of Achievement in Washington, D.C., 2011. (© Academy of Achievement)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The year 2006 was the 50th for Johnny Mathis as a recording artist, an anniversary marked by the release of the album <i>Johnny Mathis Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration</i> and a public television special, <i>Wonderful, Wonderful</i>. The same year, Mathis was honored by the Society of Singers with its Ella Award, named for Ella Fitzgerald, one of his early inspirations. Over the years, Mathis has recorded Spanish and Brazilian songs as well as jazz, pop, Broadway, soul, even disco. In 2010 he recorded his first country album, <i>Let It Be Me — Mathis in Nashville</i>. The Grammy-nominated record included duets and collaborations with singers Alison Krauss and Vince Gill. In the seventh decade of his extraordinary career, Johnny Mathis remains the world’s bestselling living recording artist.</span></p> </body></html> <div class="clearfix"> </div> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane" id="profile" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <header class="editorial-article__header"> <figure class="text-xs-center"> <img class="inductee-badge" src="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/inducted-badge@2x.png" alt="Inducted Badge" width="120" height="120"/> <figcaption class="serif-3 text-brand-primary"> Inducted in 2011 </figcaption> </figure> </header> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <dl class="clearfix m-b-0"> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Career</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> <div><a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.musician">Musician</a></div> <div><a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.singer">Singer</a></div> </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> September 30, 1935 </dd> </div> </dl> </aside> <article class="col-md-8 editorial-article clearfix"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis was only 19 years old when a Columbia Records executive heard him singing in a San Francisco nightclub and decided to sign the teenage singer on the spot. After his first album, recorded in a jazz style, failed to register with the public, producer Mitch Miller guided Mathis to a more straightforward romantic sound, leading to hits like “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not for Me to Say.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">A series of appearances on <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i> made Mathis a national star, and at age 22 he had the number one record in the country, “Chances Are.” In 1958, only two years into his recording career, he became the first artist to release a “Greatest Hits” collection. One of the bestselling records of all time, <i>Johnny’s Greatest Hits</i> inaugurated the custom of “Greatest Hits” collections that continues to this day. Johnny Mathis continued to record Top 40 hits in each of the first four decades of his career, reaching number one again in 1978 with “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">His velvet voice and impeccable phrasing have captured the hearts of listeners the world over. His mastery of American song has earned him the enduring affection of his public and the profound respect of his peers, who have honored him with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame. For half a century, through all the changes in musical fashion, Johnny Mathis has sounded a pure note of romance, and brought magic to millions.</span></p> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane" id="interview" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <div class="col-md-12 interview-feature-video"> <figure> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wyc9prhjzcg?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=2082&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-02-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-02-760x428.jpg"></div> <div class="video-tag sans-4"> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> <div class="video-tag__text">Watch full interview</div> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <header class="col-md-12 text-xs-center m-b-2"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> </header> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <h2 class="serif-3 achiever--biography-subtitle">The Timeless Voice of Romance</h2> <div class="sans-2">Washington, D.C.</div> <div class="sans-2">December 10, 2011</div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8">   <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>How did you start singing?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: My dad was an accomplished singer and pianist but he played by ear. He sang because it was something that he loved to do. He never had a career or anything singing. But he just had a wonderful way about him that was very pleasing, very pleasant. It wasn’t intimidating for me as a little kid, and from the time I was five or six years old I was learning songs that he taught me. </span><span class="s1">My dad said, “Son, let’s sing this song.” And he said, “How would you like to learn some more songs? How would you like to do this with your voice? How would you like to do that?” That’s sort of the way he treated me.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Do you remember any of his songs?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Oh sure. Yes.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/fV1bGYnw0rw?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-07-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-07-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>“Molly and me…<br/> And baby makes three…<br/> We’re happy in my blue heaven.”</p> <p>He played the piano quite well and he would play these wonderful…</p> <p>“Going to Kansas City…<br/> Kansas City, here I come.”</p> <p>Dad never sang above a whisper. He always whispered his songs. He was that polite! I think it was just a sense of politeness about him. But he was quite good at what he did. Yeah, I learned from him. And every time I hear myself on records, I hear my dad.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Was your voice then the same voice we hear now?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: No, I sounded like a little girl! I heard myself for the first time, and I shared an old machine that made recordings. You would have to gather the residue from the vinyl, and I sounded like a little girl. I was very disappointed, because my heroes at the time were baritone singers, people like Billy Eckstine, Nat King Cole, et cetera.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Take us back to the beginning. Where was this?</b></span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/tGLiG42bxdg?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-05-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-05-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Mathis: I was born in Texas in a little town called Gilmer. I don’t remember too much about it because my dad took the family from — I guess I was about four when I left Gilmer, and we went to San Francisco and I started my schooling there, went to Roosevelt Junior High School. I went to Emerson Grammar School and then on to George Washington High School. Yes, I did sing. I sang for a year and a half to pay for all my books and my tuition at San Francisco State College, and I got odd jobs. But before that, when I was about 12, my dad asked me if — my dad was a good singer and I learned all of his songs — and then in order to progress a little bit more, he asked me if I’d like to take voice lessons. So we looked around San Francisco for someone to help me out and we found a wonderful lady in Oakland. Her name was Connie Cox. And Connie taught me for about seven years. Voice lessons free of charge. I would clean her apartment and run errands for her, and she was the angel. She was the one who guided me and said, “This is what I think you can do.”</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><figure id="attachment_7558" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7558" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-7558 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-7558 size-full lazyload" alt="Johnny Mathis in New York City, 1956. His first sessions at Columbia Records resulted in a jazz album that did not reflect the warm, romantic side of his musical personality. A change of style soon brought him to the front rank of popular vocalists. (Courtesy of Sony Music)" width="2280" height="3372" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02-257x380.jpg 257w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02-514x760.jpg 514w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7558" class="wp-caption-text">Johnny Mathis in New York City, 1956. His first sessions at Columbia Records resulted in a jazz album that did not reflect the warm, romantic side of his musical personality. A change of style soon brought him to the front rank of popular vocalists. (Courtesy of Sony Music)</figcaption></figure> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Did you have siblings growing up with you in San Francisco?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: My mom and my dad raised seven of us: six brothers and sisters. I’m right in the middle, three older, three younger. I cherish my brothers and sisters. We had a lot of fun together. None of them really got too involved in music. My youngest brother, Michael, was quite enamored with it. He had a little band and sang and played for quite a while, and then he became ill and wasn’t able to play anymore.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Was he the youngest?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Yes, he was the youngest of seven.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Did he want to be just like his big brother?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: No, he didn’t like my songs. He liked rhythm and blues, and did quite well with it. He was very talented, but he got sick very early on in life.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s2"><b>How did your parents manage to raise such a large family during that time?</b></span></p> </body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/X6MtdgoHC1w?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0&end=62&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-10-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-10-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Mathis: You know, I think about that now and I’m amazed, because there was never a time that we didn’t have what we needed. We weren’t poor, we just didn’t have any money! So my mom and my dad worked as domestic workers for all their lives, and supported the family that way. They were fortunate to work for people who were quite well off, so we had a lot of stuff that was given to us. I was, for instance, very fortunate to be taken under the wing by one of their employers. His name is Garfield Merner, and he was on the board of several Southern colleges and offered me scholarships. But unfortunately, I was never able to take advantage of them, because I only stayed a year and a half at San Francisco State College before I got an opportunity to make my first recording.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body data-rsssl="1"><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You speak very warmly of your parents.</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I love to talk about my mom and my dad, because they were my best friends. We had a wonderful, extraordinary relationship. They were the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever known, and I don’t know how they managed with seven kids. I just don’t know how.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_7547" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-7547" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-7547 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254im_/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028.jpg"></noscript><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-7547 size-full lazyload" alt="When Johnny Mathis arrived in London for his first tour of Britain in 1961, he was the world's top-selling recording artist. (AP Images)" width="2280" height="1817" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028.jpg 2280w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028-380x303.jpg 380w, /web/20200917235254im_/https://achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028-760x606.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254/https://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028.jpg"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-7547" class="wp-caption-text">When Mathis arrived in London for his first tour of Britain in 1961, he was the world’s top-selling recording artist.</figcaption></figure> <p class="p3"><span class="s2"><b>They must have been very proud of you. I’m sure the whole family was.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: The thing that I did, sort of inadvertently, was I wanted to include them in my life a little bit more, so I made my mom and my dad my fan club presidents. They would get all this mail from all over the world and sit down into the wee hours of the morning, writing in longhand these replies to all of these people from far-off lands and what have you.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Was this at the beginning of your career, when you were only 19?</b></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s2">Johnny Mathis: Yes, I was 19, and I always wanted to include them. They were inclusive to all of their children. There was no mystery about what they did, or about the family. There was no discord. We were all just kind of people who got along together a lot. I think it’s helped me a great deal in my life.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Living in San Francisco you can meet people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Were you one of the few African American families in your neighborhood or in your school?</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Yes. We were fortunate, because we lived and went to school with a lot of Chinese from Chinatown. San Francisco, I think, has the largest Chinese settlement outside of the Orient. So really we were accustomed to seeing and interacting with people of different races. We never really had any problems in that respect, even later on after I became an entertainer.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Those were difficult times for many African Americans, entertainers or not. What was it like for you? You became famous at such an early age.</b></span></p> </body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/DIXL-1siCCY?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-04-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-04-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Mathis: Yes, I did get famous at an early age because of my recordings. And I was so fortunate, I followed people like Lena Horne, Billy Eckstine, and Nat King Cole, and people — icons in the music business when I was growing up — and eventually I got to meet all of them and even become close friends with them. But they are the ones who did all the work for me as far as race relations were concerned. Fortunately they were all intelligent, bright people who were looking to improve relationships between black entertainers and white entertainers and just in general, the public as a whole. So I had good role models to follow. But they were the ones who went to the nightclubs and to the concert hall before me and paved the way. When I came along I really was judged by my music and nothing more.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>What was your mom doing when your dad was encouraging you to sing? Did she want you to do something else?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Johnny Mathis: No, Mom was right there all the time, but she was always five or six steps in the background. She loved — not to participate — but to be someone who enjoyed watching. She was not musical, so she was a little bit fascinated by it all.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>She must have been quite encouraging in her way.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: She was there at all times. The greatest thing I think that I learned from her — besides the obvious things, her humility, her generosity — is I learned to cook all my own food at an early age, and I cooked all my life.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Are you still cooking?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Oh yes.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What are your favorite things to cook?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Whatever someone else doesn’t cook better! I’m not above going to a restaurant that really knows what they’re doing, but I’ve cooked all my life.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You’re a man of many talents.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Men make really good chefs, I think.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Was there a particular song or book that inspired you as a young person?</b></span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20200917235254if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wl8-5rAieCc?feature=oembed&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-09-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-Johnny-09-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/keys-to-success/preparation/">Preparation</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Johnny Mathis: I think the thing that motivated me most musically — and that’s about all I can think of, because my life has been all about music — the rest of the things I’ve sort of learned along the way. For instance, how to take care of my body physically, so that I’ll be able to sing when I’m required to. That I learned at an early age, because of my athletics in college and high school. So I learned to exercise regularly so that I could be strong physically to support the tones. I was fascinated from a very early age by opera singers. They were the ones that I listened to, and that my teacher Connie Cox played for me ad nauseam. She felt that if I could learn from them the technique of producing the tones properly — not just producing them, but producing them so that I wouldn’t do harm to my vocal cords — that was the thing that was important to her. And that was the thing that has stood me in good stead all these years.</p> </div> </div>     <aside class="collapse" id="full-interview">    <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You’ve obviously kept your vocal cords in great shape.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I’ve had a few little minor irritations with my vocal cords, but nothing serious.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Could you tell us about the athletic events you participated in? We know you were a high jumper.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I was a high jumper and a hurdler on the track team. I also played basketball for the 130-pound team at Washington High School. I had wonderful coaches who understood that my first love was music but I would try to do as best I could in basketball. And I did pretty good. I won several letters that I still have which are very, very dear to me. I was a little bit more athletically inclined as a high jumper, so much so that I got a chance to go to the Olympic trials as a high jumper, which at the time was being held at Berkeley, the University of California.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Did you go?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: No. During the same week that I was to go, I got an opportunity to go to New York and make my first recording. I was 19 years old and I wanted to go and join my buddies in high jumping and trying out for the Olympic team. But I took one look at my dad and he just smiled, knowing what we were going to do, and that was to go to New York and make my first recording.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Do you feel that was your decision or did he make it for you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Dad was the greatest guy in the world. He would never push. He always offered and made things available for you and opened the door for me. If I wanted to go through, fine. If not, he was prepared too, because there were many opportunities before I made my first recording to leave San Francisco with different jazz bands. Even Louis Armstrong once wanted me to go sing with him on the road. But my father looked at me and said, “I don’t think so. I think you should go back to school.” But that was about the only time that he put his foot down. But he felt that if I went to New York and made a recording and nothing really happened, I could still go back and do my schooling.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>It sounds like your parents encouraged education as well?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Absolutely.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Many parents of that age saw it as the only way that African Americans could move forward.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Absolutely.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What experience or event inspired you the most in your life as a young person?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I think the thing that stands out most in my mind — about how excited I was to have an opportunity to do something with my voice — is when I met Lennie Hayton, who was married to Lena Horne. Lena Horne used to come through San Francisco on a regular basis at this wonderful hotel — the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco — in the Venetian Room. My dad would take me to see her. It was something electric and magnificent about her. First of all she was gorgeous. She was a beautiful woman, and she had a history of learning her craft. She was a wonderful singer and dancer. As a youngster, I would go and listen to her and watch her, and she would mesmerize me. That was the thing that motivated me most, I think, to continue to perform, not just sing for recreational purposes. But I remember she was the shining light. And then of course I went and saw other people who became fabulous in my mind also, but she was the one that I remember was the motivator for me. I said, “I would love to be able to be that good, have something, a quality that good.” And all my life — I told her. I finally got a chance, after I met her, to tell her. But her husband was very kind to me — Lennie Hayton — because Lena was a little standoffish. Because she was a black woman in a white world, doing all of these incredible things, making roads for people like myself, so Lena was a little bit standoffish. But her husband Lennie Hayton, who was white, used to sneak me to her dressing room and I’d sit out in the foyer until she was all dolled up and made up — she wouldn’t see me without her makeup — and put her gown on, and that was the Lena Horne I always remember. I never saw her — I think maybe once I saw her offstage when she wasn’t all dolled up. But of course she was the person, I think, more so than Nat King Cole, who I almost emulated from the time I was a little kid, because he’s my favorite singer. But she was this incredible person that I thought was the epitome of what it would be like to be a singing star.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>In those days, whenever there was a black person on television, black parents would call the kids to come watch, because it was still unusual. When did you start singing on television?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: There were a couple of local television shows that had local talent and I was always going on there from the time I was about 12 or 13 years old. I even have a picture of Billy Eckstine and myself that I saw when I went to Billy Eckstine’s house and he said, “I want to show you something.” And this is 20 years later. He brought out this picture of him and I together, and I said, “Where did you get…” He said, “I remember these things.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>It was a long time before they allowed black entertainers to sing on a lot of the teenage music shows they had back then. Is that how you remember it?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I’m not certain about it. I had no celebrity up until the time that it was okay to appear on these teenage shows.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You were 19 when a Columbia Records executive named George Avakian heard you sing. He must have heard a lot of young singers. What do you think he heard in you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I wonder. I think it was my choice of songs. </span><span class="s1">I sang some pretty sophisticated songs when I was 18 and 19 years old, because I grew up in San Francisco and I frequented the jazz clubs and that’s what I heard. I heard songs like “Lush Life.” You know, here I was, a 19-year-old kid singing “Lush Life,” the most decadent song in the world! And songs that were not necessarily on the hit parade, but were standard-type songs written by some of the writers who wrote for Broadway and what have you — Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, that type of thing. Those were the songs that I sang. And I was fortunate enough to have my audition tape accompaniment by a guy by the name of Vince Guaraldi. Vince Guaraldi wrote the <i>Peanuts</i> music — the cartoon <i>Peanuts</i>, he wrote all that music. In fact, at Christmastime, I sang one of the songs, “Christmastime Is Here.”</span></p> <p>“Happiness and cheer…<br/> Fun for all…<br/> The children call…<br/> Their favorite time of year.”</p> <p>— and I love it. I got a chance to meet Charles Schultz. Those are the type of songs that I sang. They were not middle-of-the-road, they were pretty esoteric. And George was in charge of jazz music for Columbia Records at the time, and he was looking for jazz singers all over the place. I kind of fooled him, because I hinted at being a jazz singer, ’cause those were the ones I was listening to, but I was never a jazz singer. I had to have the melody, and I wasn’t good at improvising. But it brought me to his attention.</p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Your first album was quite jazz-oriented, but Mitch Miller at Columbia Records chose a different direction for your second. How did that come about?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: George Avakian and Mitch Miller were producers. They were in the same building. This is before they had the title “producer.” All they did was get the record made.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Before I had a chance to leave New York and come back to San Francisco, I was heard by Mitch Miller. Evidently someone at the building played one of my songs for him. He would never listen to anything jazz-orientated. He was quite adamant about the fact that he didn’t like jazz and he didn’t like anybody who’s going to sing jazz. So getting my recording to him was probably a very big stroke of luck, but somehow he heard it, and he liked my voice, but he didn’t like what I was singing.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What were you singing?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I was singing songs like “Babalu” in Spanish, but the Spanish was lousy. And I was accompanied by people like John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet. I had a ball with all these jazz musicians for the first year and a half of my recording career. But nothing really happened to the recordings. Nobody played them, nobody listened to them, I guess. Then I met Mitch, and he gave me a stack of records to listen to and said, “Choose four.” And I chose a song called “When Sunny Gets Blue,” a song called “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and a song called “It’s Not for Me to Say.” We went in the studio and recorded them, and he stood in back of me and patted me on the back while I was singing, which is very difficult to sing if somebody’s patting you on the back. But he got what he wanted, and I just sang the melody. I didn’t improvise or try to.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Were all those songs on the album that you did with him?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Yes, all of those songs. Right from the beginning, the first songs that I sang in that way, in that “Johnny Mathis style,” were and have been a big part of my career.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>So the “Johnny Mathis style” was created then, with Mitch Miller patting you on the back?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Yes. </span><span class="s1">I had outlived my Lena Horne impressions and my Nat King Cole impressions and my Billy Eckstine impressions. He wouldn’t have any of that. He wanted me just to sing in a way which I thought wasn’t exciting enough, it didn’t have any fire. I said, “Anybody can do that.” He said, “That’s it! I want you to sing like anybody can do it! And make sure that everybody thinks that they can sing like that.” And I didn’t understand what he was saying, but about a year later, we had some success with, I think, “Wonderful! Wonderful!”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You have such a unique voice. No one sounds like you.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: That’s amazing, because I always thought that I sound like everybody else.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>In 1957, you made your first appearance on <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i>. What was that like for a young singer?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I was very fortunate, because Columbia Records and CBS Television were entwined in those days. So whenever I had a record release on Columbia, they would put me on <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i>, and I would go nationally to the rest of the world, or the rest of the United States. So that’s how I became immensely popular very, very early on in my career, because of <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i>.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You had just turned 22 when you had the number one record in the entire country, “Chances Are.” What did that feel like?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">It was the most wonderful feeling in the world, because I had made a couple of friends growing up who were musicians. One was Virgil Gonsalves, and Virgil had a little band, a jazz band, and he would invite me to sing on occasion with the jazz band, and we became really good buddies. So I was happy for him. Also, I was overjoyed for my dad. But that was part of the circumstances that I was involved in at the time. I knew I had made the records, and I knew that they were good records, but I was amazed that they would become popular. I thought just a few people would listen. So I was thrilled for me, but mostly I was thrilled for all of these other people who helped me along the way. My voice teacher, my goodness, what must she think? Here’s this kid that she nurtured from the time I was a little kid, and here I was, a big recording star.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Did she ever say she knew you could do it, that she knew this was going to happen with you?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I made a big faux pas. Because Connie was not only kind to me and gave me voice lessons free of charge, but she also did it with several other entertainers who became very popular. I can’t name them right now, but maybe I’ll remember a little later. I don’t know, I said something to her when I came back to San Francisco and continued my studies, I said something to her about — I don’t know but it must have sounded a little arrogant or something. And she brought me down to earth, and says, “I also have other students who are just as good as you.” I was devastated. She liked the fact that I had had success, but she expected it, and she wanted me to be a little more humble. And I thank her for that.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Do you feel humbled by your success?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Absolutely. It’s the most extraordinary thing that ever happened. I am still the child that I was when I was high jumping and hurdling. I still feel awe, and I’m inspired by the people that I first heard sing. Music has been my life. I’ve met people like Leontyne Price and Beverly Sills and Richard Tucker and Luciano Pavarotti. Those are the voices of the ages, and yet they embraced me and took me in as one of their own. It’s the most amazing thing that ever happened. I still think I’m dreaming.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>At what particular moment in your career did you know that you had arrived?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I never, ever had that epiphany, that moment. Because there was always another level, another level, another level. You know, to have a hit record or to have two or to have three. But then you go and you see these extraordinary people who have had hit records, and yet you don’t get the essence of them until you see them perform. And that was what I thought would be my legacy, is my performance — not only of these songs that I’d recorded — but of many, many songs. And I was never comfortable with the thought that I had reached a certain pinnacle. I always had room for my heroes, and they’ve never let me down, mostly because I learned early on not to get too close to my heroes, because sometimes the person who has this brilliant voice is not a person that you want to be around all the time. So I learned that at an early age, too.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>There are a lot of big egos out there. How did you keep your humility?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: My father was a very modest man. My teacher, as I mentioned, knocked me down if you get too arrogant. And most of the inspiration and teachings that I’ve had over the years were by very humble people who are grateful for any success. Because let’s face it, you’re competing with the world, and to be given an opportunity to do what I’ve done is, in fact, a miracle, but it’s a miracle that was worked at and that was… I’ve really and truly been focused. The only time I’ve gotten out of focus is when I’ve gotten afraid that I couldn’t do what people expected me to do. That’s a little frightening. And then I have done some things that were not productive. Nothing earth shattering, but I got off the track there a couple of times. I worked very hard from the time I was a young kid, because the instances for my services as a singer were just phenomenal. And I got very — vocally I got a little messed up, and I went to a doctor in New York, a very infamous doctor in New York who gave me amphetamines when I was about 25 years old, I guess. And that was tough to deal with, because I ended up in the hospital and had to go through rehab for that.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">I met some wonderful people in the hospital who said, “Well, are you taking anything?” Because when I didn’t sing, I wouldn’t take the medication. I wouldn’t take the medication that he gave me. So I would have withdrawals, and I ended up in the hospital. But fortunately, I understood how devastating it was for me, when it took me, I don’t know, maybe a month or two to get that out of my life. And then I also went through Alcoholics Anonymous, because I thought I was drinking too much and I thought it was… I was embarrassed. But I had people who loved me and said, “Well, don’t be embarrassed. Do something about it!” And I said, “What’ll I do?” and they said, “Do this,” and they sent me to people who helped me and got me off the booze. Maybe the only things that really could have ruined me. And it was all because of the input of other people. You can’t do anything by yourself. Everything is a matter of who you surround yourself with.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You described it very well, the feeling of wanting to meet the expectations of other people. It can lead you to reach for help. The amphetamines and alcohol probably seemed to be a good way to deal with that at the time.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Yeah, but even that got old, and then you start wondering, “Oh my God, I took so much, now I have to take more and more and more…” Yeah, it was a terrible time for me. When you’re doing bad things, you just don’t know whether you can conquer them or not. I found out how strong I could be when I was motivated, and I’m kind of proud of that.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>In Las Vegas in the 1950s, the major venues had a history of disrespectful treatment of black artists. That changed when you played the Sands. Can you tell us about that?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Once again, I was following my big iconic hero Lena Horne, Sammy Davis, Jr., Billy Eckstine, I think, and then of course in the lounges there were the big bands of Count Basie, Duke Ellington. So I was booked at the Sands Hotel for a month at a time, but I didn’t really have a problem because of these people. The only thing I thought was amusing, and then I got a little mad about it after I kind of thought about it, was that I couldn’t stay at the hotel, I had to stay at some other place. And I thought, “Hmm, well I’ll take the money and run,” or something. I don’t know. I was a little annoyed later on. But then, of course, I realized how important these entertainers who have gone before were to my life. Fortunately, over the years — as I have mentioned, I think, before — I had a chance to meet them all. Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, and even Duke Ellington and Count Basie and all the great black entertainers who had gone before, and I actually sat down and told them how proud I was of them and what they had done, and how easy they made it for me. Because not only did they make it easy for me, but the laws of the country changed. They changed the laws. So they would have had to answer to denying me my right to stay at the hotel or stay anywhere I wanted to.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Don’t you think you had something to do with that, too?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I think we all do, in our way, but I wasn’t conscious of it. I was so enamored with what they had done that what I had done is really just float in after them.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">I always made sure that I kept the dignity, or tried to keep the dignity that they showed, by standing there and singing and not doing too much else, because I didn’t know what else to do. But you know, sometimes you can get carried away and I don’t know, lose your composure or something. But I was very conscious of that, I said, “All I’m going to do is sing. I’ll be out of here in a minute. You guys just enjoy. I’ll sing my hit songs,” and that’s kind of the way I thought about it. But then, of course, the natural kind of intellect that you have comes into being, and I realized that what they were — people who were ignorant of the fact that we were all doing the same thing — I mean, come on, the skin color’s a little different. But then you go on television. I said, “I look white! My hair isn’t nappy, it’s straight,” and I said, “What’s the big deal?” And then, of course, before I knew it, things got better.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>I think you had something to do with it.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I hope so.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You don’t give yourself a whole lot of credit for a lot of things you’ve done. You are a humble person.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I’ve got a lot to be humble about.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You’ve talked about always looking forward to the next level, not being satisfied with what you’ve already done. Do you still think that way?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I had some goals to get to. As I mentioned, I saw a couple of my icons, who I worshiped as an entertainer, at the age of 72. I remember it vividly. I was watching them on Broadway in some productions that they were doing. And I said — I must have been about 50 at the time — and I said, “When I get to be 72, I would like to perform that well and have my ability still intact.” And when I was 72, I remember, I took note of where I was, what I was doing, and I said, “Okay, everything’s all right. Now what do I do? I’ve done a thing that I kind of had my eye on,” and I said, “I want to see if I can do what I admired about them,” and maybe blaze a few trails and do something at a later age that maybe will inspire someone else.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>It’s hard to believe you’re that old.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: No, but we don’t feel that. We don’t feel old. I don’t feel old, except in the morning once in a while, when I can’t turn over properly and say, “What’s that? When did that happen?” Our brain doesn’t accept that. We’re geared to last.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Well, you certainly have done everything to make that voice last, I’ll tell you. All of those songs that you sang are as new today, and when young people hear them, they like them.</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Thank God for vinyl! It’s wonderful to be involved in something that captures your life from almost the beginning to the end. I’m absolutely blessed.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Do you listen to your own music?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: Yeah, and I think, “Oh, I’d love to do that again now that I know the melody!” A lot of the music that I had to sing, I had to learn it very fast. So I never got a chance to really get into it until later on, after I had lived with it and learned the proper way to sing it. Oh gosh, I listen to some of the harmless stuff that I recorded, where I know that I sang the right melody, and I know that it’s a good performance. The questionable things I listen to once in a while and say, “Well, it’s not that bad. Maybe nobody will listen to it.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You’re too modest. To millions of fans around the world you’re a legend. How do you see yourself? What’s it like to be Johnny Mathis?</b></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Johnny Mathis: I’m really pretty much a regular person who just got very lucky. I got involved early on in my life with a lot of wonderful people who helped me and guided me. I found out what I really liked to do and that was sing. And I had a lot of help to accomplish most of my goals.</span></p> <p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">Thank you so much for talking with us today.</span></strong></p> </div>  </aside>  <div class="read-more__toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#full-interview"><a href="#" class="sans-4 btn">Read full interview</a></div> </article> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane" id="gallery" role="tabpanel"> <section class="isotope-wrapper">  <header class="toolbar toolbar--gallery bg-white clearfix"> <div class="col-md-6"> <div class="serif-4">Johnny Mathis Gallery</div> </div> <div class="col-md-6 text-md-right isotope-toolbar"> <ul class="list-unstyled list-inline m-b-0 text-brand-primary sans-4"> <li class="list-inline-item" data-filter=".photo"><i class="icon-icon_camera"></i>17 photos</li> </ul> </div> </header> <div class="isotope-gallery isotope-box single-achiever__gallery clearfix"> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3013698630137" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP520911014.jpg" data-image-caption="Singer and actress Lena Horne poses with her husband, MGM musical director Lennie Hayton, aboard the liner Liberté in 1952. The couple had just returned from a 1952 tour of France and England. (AP Images)" data-image-copyright="Horne Hayton" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP520911014-292x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP520911014-584x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.79736842105263" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028.jpg" data-image-caption="When Johnny Mathis arrived in London for his first tour of Britain in 1961, he was the world's top-selling recording artist. (AP Images)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Mathis 1961" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028-380x303.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP610709028-760x606.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.75526315789474" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis excelled at the high jump as a student at San Francisco State. He passed up the Olympic trials for his first major label recording session. (AP Images)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Mathis 1958" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139-380x287.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP5812010139-760x574.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis performs at the Academy of Achievement in Washington, D.C., 2011. (© Academy of Achievement)" data-image-copyright="wordpress_mat0-002" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_mat0-002-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.96447368421053" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis on stage in London, England in the early 1980s. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)" data-image-copyright="Johnny Mathis Performs On Stage" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337-380x367.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_91881337-760x733.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.5049504950495" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_84904020.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis performs on British television in the late '60s. (Photo by Tony Russell/Redferns)" data-image-copyright="" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_84904020-252x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_GettyImages_84904020-505x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2969283276451" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis on the "Ed Sullivan Show" in 1967. His appearances on the popular Sunday night television program introduced him to a national audience in the 1950s, and he remained a frequent guest for the rest of the show's run. (© Bettmann/CORBIS)" data-image-copyright="" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120-293x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6707160120-586x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.64868421052632" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338.jpg" data-image-caption="Mickey Rooney and Johnny Mathis onstage with Judy Garland in Hollywood, 1965. After Garland broke her arm on the day of a performance, Rooney and Mathis offered to appear with her and help her get through the show. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis/ AP Images)" data-image-copyright="M. Rooney, J. Mathis & Judy Garland" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338-380x247.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_AP6509140338-760x493.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.4990138067061" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis.2196.C3.19.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis was only 19 when he signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. (Courtesy of Sony Music)" data-image-copyright="" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis.2196.C3.19-254x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis.2196.C3.19-507x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66578947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.4407.C1.29.jpg" data-image-caption="At first, Columbia Records tried to present Johnny Mathis as a jazz artist, an approach that did not come naturally to him. Producer Mitch Miller led him to sing in an easy, unaffected style that struck an immediate chord with the American public. (Courtesy of Sony Music)" data-image-copyright="wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.4407.C1.29" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.4407.C1.29-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.4407.C1.29-760x506.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.496062992126" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01.jpg" data-image-caption="After the lukewarm reception to his debut album, Johnny Mathis caught fire with a series of hit singles. By age 22, he had the number one record in the country, "Chances Are." (Courtesy of Sony Music)" data-image-copyright="" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01-254x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.01-508x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.4785992217899" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis in New York City, 1956. His first sessions at Columbia Records resulted in a jazz album that did not reflect the warm, romantic side of his musical personality. A change of style soon brought him to the front rank of popular vocalists. (Courtesy of Sony Music)" data-image-copyright="wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02-257x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress_Mathis_Johnny.C1246.02-514x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mathis_760_ac.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis" data-image-copyright="mathis_760_ac" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mathis_760_ac-380x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mathis_760_ac.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.501976284585" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1.jpg" data-image-caption="1956: Johnny Mathis arrives in New York City for his first session with Columbia Records. Johnny Mathis was only 19 when he signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. (Courtesy of Sony Music)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1-253x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wordpress-3-_Mathis.2196.C1-506x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.71428571428571" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mathis-4-years-old.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis at 4 years old." data-image-copyright="Johnny Mathis at 4 years old." data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mathis-4-years-old-380x271.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/mathis-4-years-old.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3126079447323" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco.jpg" data-image-caption="Johnny Mathis's first public performance at a talent show in San Francisco. He won the contest, much to his surprise (his words), and was also about 13-14 years old at the time." data-image-copyright="mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco-290x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Mathis-13-14-first-public-performance-in-san-francisco-579x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.25" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wp-mathis-school-portrait-13-14yrsold.jpg" data-image-caption="A school portrait of 13-year-old Johnny Mathis." data-image-copyright="A school portrait of 13-year-old Johnny Mathis." data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wp-mathis-school-portrait-13-14yrsold-304x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/wp-mathis-school-portrait-13-14yrsold-608x760.jpg"></div>  </figure>    </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <footer class="editorial-article__footer col-md-8 col-md-offset-4"> <div class="editorial-article__next-link sans-3"> <a href="#"><strong>What's next:</strong> <span class="editorial-article__next-link-title">profile</span></a> </div> <ul class="social list-unstyled list-inline ssk-group m-b-0"> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-facebook" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Facebook"><i class="icon-icon_facebook-circle"></i></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-twitter" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Twitter"><i class="icon-icon_twitter-circle"></i></a></li>  <li 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Bush</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/susan-butcher/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Susan Butcher</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-michael-caine/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Michael Caine</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-cameron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Cameron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-s-carson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Carter</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Cash</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/william-j-clinton/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William J. Clinton</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/francis-s-collins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/denton-a-cooley/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Denton A. Cooley, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis Ford Coppola</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ray-dalio/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Dalio</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/olivia-de-havilland/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Olivia de Havilland</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/michael-e-debakey-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/michael-dell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael S. Dell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ron-dennis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Dennis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/joan-didion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joan Didion</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-herbert-donald-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Herbert Donald, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-doubilet/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Doubilet</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/jennifer-a-doudna-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jennifer A. Doudna, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/rita-dove/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rita Dove</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/sylvia-earle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/elbaradei/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mohamed ElBaradei</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/gertrude-elion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry J. Ellison</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/nora-ephron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nora Ephron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/julius-erving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Julius Erving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/tony-fadell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tony Fadell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/paul-farmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Farmer, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzanne Farrell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/anthony-s-fauci-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/sally-field/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally Field</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/lord-norman-foster/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Norman Foster</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/aretha-franklin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Aretha Franklin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/milton-friedman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Milton Friedman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/carlos-fuentes/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Fuentes</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/athol-fugard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Athol Fugard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/peter-gabriel/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peter Gabriel</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ernest-j-gaines/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernest J. Gaines</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William H. Gates III</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/leymah-gbowee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leymah Gbowee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/frank-gehry/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank O. Gehry</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/murray-gell-mann-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Ghosn</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/vince-gill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Vince Gill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/louise-gluck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louise Glück</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/whoopi-goldberg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Whoopi Goldberg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/jane-goodall/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Jane Goodall</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/doris-kearns-goodwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/nadine-gordimer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nadine Gordimer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/carol-greider-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol W. Greider, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-grisham/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Grisham</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-john-gurdon/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir John Gurdon</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/dorothy-hamill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dorothy Hamill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Demis Hassabis, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/lauryn-hill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lauryn Hill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-edmund-hillary/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Edmund Hillary</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/reid-hoffman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reid Hoffman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/khaled-hosseini/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Khaled Hosseini, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ron-howard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Howard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-hume/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Hume</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/louis-ignarro-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/daniel-inouye/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Daniel K. Inouye</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/jeremy-irons/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeremy Irons</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-irving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Irving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/kazuo-ishiguro/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Kazuo Ishiguro</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/sir-peter-jackson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Peter Jackson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/donald-c-johanson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/frank-m-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank M. Johnson, Jr.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Philip C. Johnson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Chuck Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-earl-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Earl Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/quincy-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Quincy Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/beverly-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Beverly Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/dereck-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dereck Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/paul-kagame/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Kagame</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/thomas-keller-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Thomas Keller</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/anthony-m-kennedy/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony M. Kennedy</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carole King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">B.B. King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/coretta-scott-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Coretta Scott King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/willem-j-kolff/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/wendy-kopp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wendy Kopp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry R. Kravis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/nicholas-d-kristof/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nicholas D. Kristof</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/mike-krzyzewski/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mike Krzyzewski</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ray-kurzwell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Kurzweil</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/eric-lander-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/robert-s-langer-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/richard-leakey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard E. Leakey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/leon-lederman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Lederman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Congressman John R. Lewis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/maya-lin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Lin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/george-lucas/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George Lucas</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/paul-b-maccready-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul B. MacCready, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/norman-mailer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman Mailer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/peyton-manning/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peyton Manning</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/wynton-marsalis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wynton Marsalis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/john-c-mather-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John C. Mather, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Mathis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ernst-mayr-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernst Mayr, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/willie-mays/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willie Mays</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank McCourt</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David McCullough</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/audra-mcdonald/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Audra McDonald</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/admiral-william-h-mcraven/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral William H. McRaven, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/w-s-merwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">W. S. Merwin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/reinhold-messner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reinhold Messner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/james-a-michener/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James A. Michener</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/mario-j-molina-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/n-scott-momaday-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/story-musgrave/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Story Musgrave, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ralph Nader</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/peggy-noonan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peggy Noonan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/jessye-norman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jessye Norman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/tommy-norris/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joyce Carol Oates</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/pierre-omidyar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pierre Omidyar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/arnold-palmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Arnold Palmer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/leon-panetta/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Panetta</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/rosa-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rosa Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/suzan-lori-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzan-Lori Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20200917235254/https://achievement.org/achiever/linus-pauling/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linus C. 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