Wayne Newton

One doesn't earn the nickname “Mr. Entertainment” by being an introverted, “Serious Artist”. No, instead one earns that nickname by adding to the sum total of human happiness in the world by a hell of a lot through sheer power of personality, charisma and some damn fine singing. So it's kind of strange that the person who currently owns that nickname began life as a sickly, heavily asthmatic Virginian army brat who had nothing but a passion for music. By the time he was six years old he was proficient at the guitar, piano and steel guitar, and his first brush with show-bushiness came at a very early age, singing at country fairs, clubs and theatres with his older brother Jerry as The Rascals Of Rhythm.

When Wayne was finishing junior high school, a Las Vegas booking agent saw the brothers on a local TV show, and brought them in for an audition. While he originally signed The Rascals of Rhythm for two weeks, the brothers stayed in Vegas for five years, getting their first national TV slot in 1962, on The Jackie Gleason show. They appeared on the show 12 times over the next two years and as a result, the two brothers scored roles on the Western TV series Bonanaza. After a couple of years on the show, Jerry decided to pursue an acting career while Wayne decided to keep singing, and set about making as many connections in Vegas as he could. He eventually struck up a friendship with Jack Benny, who hired the young Newton as his opening act soon after they met.

Newton spent the rest of the 1960's as the hottest new act in Vegas, opening for many other acts and then scoring his own headline show in the last 60's. By the early 1970's, Newton was a big enough name all around the country to score a hit single in his own right, with his version of “Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast” certified Gold in July 1972. However successful his records were though, his live shows were what made him spectacular, and in 1994, he played his 25'000th show. He's still touring to this day, and with more experience live than most musicians could dream of, Wayne Newton still comes highly recommended.