About Johnny Mathis
John Royce Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, Mathis became highly popular as an album artist, with several of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 making the Billboard charts. Mathis has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three recordings.
Mathis is the third best-selling artist of the 20th century, selling 360 million records worldwide. Although frequently described as a romantic singer, his discography includes traditional pop, Latin American, soul, rhythm and blues, show tunes, Tin Pan Alley, soft rock, blues, country music, and even a few disco songs for his album Mathis Magic in 1979. Mathis has also recorded seven albums of Christmas music. In a 1968 interview, he cited Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby among his musical influences.
Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas, on September 30, 1935, the fourth of seven children of Clem Mathis and Mildred Boyd, both domestic cooks. Mathis is African-American and has stated that he has Native American ancestry on his mother's side. The family moved to San Francisco when Mathis was five, settling on 32nd Avenue in the Richmond District, where Mathis grew up.
Mathis' father worked in vaudeville as a singer and pianist, and on realizing his son's talent, bought an old upright piano for $25 ), and encouraged his music. Mathis began learning songs and routines from his father; his parents also ran his fan club. Mathis' first song was "My Blue Heaven", and he started singing and dancing for visitors at home, at school, and at church functions.
When Mathis was 13, voice teacher Connie Cox accepted him as her student in exchange for housework. Mathis studied with Cox for six years, learning vocal scales and exercises, voice production, classical and operatic singing. The first band Mathis sang with was formed by his high school friend, Merl Saunders. Mathis eulogized Saunders at his funeral in 2008, thanking him for that first chance at being a singer.
Mathis was a star athlete at George Washington High School in San Francisco. He was a high jumper, hurdler, and basketball player. In 1954, Mathis enrolled at San Francisco State College on an athletic scholarship, competing in both basketball and track, and intending to become a physical education teacher. While there, he set a high jump record of .mw-parser-output .frac.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den.mw-parser-output .frac .den.mw-parser-output .sr-only;clip-path:polygon;height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}1.97 m , still one of the college's top jump heights and only 7 cm short of the 1952 Olympic record of 2.04 m . Mathis and future NBA star Bill Russell were featured in a 1954 sports section article of the San Francisco Chronicle demonstrating their high-jumping skills, as at the time Russell was No. 1 and Mathis was No. 2 in the City of San Francisco.
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