In 1956, a young balladeer named Johnny Mathis released his debut album. Mathis, the son of a vaudeville performer, was friends and athletic rivals with NBA all-timer Bill Russell when they were both in high school. Mathis began singing in jazz clubs in San Francisco in the mid-’50s, and then he signed to Columbia and released romantic slow-dance hits like “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “Chances Are.” He continued to make hits for decades, landing at #1 with the Deniece Williams duet “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” in 1978. Mathis’ career lasted for 70 years, and he finally played his final show on Sunday night in New Jersey.
Johnny Mathis announced his retirement last month. As The New York Times reports, the 89-year-old Mathis was planning to play shows through the fall, but he canceled many of them. In a statement, Mathis’ reps cited his “age and memory issues which have accelerated.” His final concert was a Sunday night performance at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, New Jersey. Before the performance, the venue inducted Mathis into the BergenPAC Walk Of Fame, which is something that they began last year. The venue shared congratulatory messages from Chaka Khan, Barry Manilow, Patti LaBelle, Nile Rodgers, and Lionel Richie, and most of those legends talked about growing up with Mathis’ music.
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Al Roker posted an Instagram video from Mathis’ final performance last night, and the video shows Mathis still sounding unbelievably smooth and looking alert. He mugs with the crowd with the sort of old-school panache that doesn’t really exist anymore, and he looks fantastic. He’s got one of the greatest sets of mutton chops I’ve ever seen. Guy looks like Wolverine. It’s amazing. Watch that footage of Johnny Mathis’ final performance below.
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