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John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music whose career has spanned more than sixty years.

Of mixed African-American and Native American heritage, Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas, the fourth of seven children, but grew up in San Francisco, California. Taking inspiration from his father, a vaudeville singer and pianist, he learned to play the piano and perform songs for his family and friends. When Mathis was 13, voice teacher Connie Cox accepted him as her student in exchange for doing work around her house. Mathis studied with Cox for six years, learning vocal scales and exercises, voice production, and classical and operatic singing. The first band he sang with was formed by his high school friend Merl Saunders. (Mathis eulogized Saunders at his funeral in 2008, thanking him for giving Mathis his first chance as a singer.)

His professional debut came at the age of nineteen, and from there he has enjoyed a long career with singles, albums, compilations and collaborations, and is one of only a handful of artists to carry the distinction of having the longest-ever tenure on the Columbia label. He has had five of his albums on the Billboard charts simultaneously, an achievement equaled by only two other singers: Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow. He has released 200 singles and had 71 songs charted around the world. Chances are, you’ve heard at least one of his songs in motion pictures or television.


Discography

    open/close all folders 
    Columbia Records, 1956– 63 
  • Johnny Mathis (1956)
  • Wonderful, Wonderful (1957)
  • Warm (1957)
  • Good Night, Dear Lord (1958)
  • Swing Softly (1958)
  • Merry Christmas (1958)
  • Open Fire, Two Guitars (1959)
  • Heavenly (1959)
  • Faithfully (1959)
  • Johnny’s Mood (1960)
  • The Rhythms and Ballads of Broadway (1960)
  • I’ll Buy You a Star (1961)
  • Live It Up! (1962)
  • Rapture (1962)
  • Johnny (1963)
  • Romantically (1963)

    Mercury Records, 1963– 67 
  • Sounds of Christmas (1963)
  • Tender is the Night (1963)
  • The Wonderful World of Make Believe (1964)
  • This is Love (1964)
  • Olé (1964)
  • Broadway (1965)
  • Love is Everything (1965)
  • The Sweetheart Tree (1965)
  • The Shadow of Your Smile (1966)
  • So Nice (1966)
  • Johnny Mathis Sings (1967)

    Columbia Records, 1967–present 
  • Up, Up and Away (1967)
  • Love is Blue (1968)
  • Those Were the Days (1968)
  • Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet” (A Time for Us) (1969)
  • Give Me Your Love for Christmas (1969)
  • Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head (1970)
  • Close to You (1970)
  • Johnny Mathis Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert (1970)
  • Love Story (1971)
  • You’ve Got a Friend (1971)
  • The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face) (1972)
  • Song Sung Blue (1972)
  • Me and Mrs. Jones (1973)
  • Killing Me Softly with Her Song (1973)
  • I’m Coming Home (1973)
  • The Heart of a Woman (1974)
  • When Will I See You Again (1975)
  • Feelings (1975)
  • I Only Have Eyes For You (1976)
  • Mathis Is... (1977)
  • Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (1977)
  • You Light Up My Life (1978)
  • That’s What Friends Are For (1978)
  • The Best Days of My Life (1979)
  • Mathis Magic (1979)
  • Different Kinda Different (1980)
  • Friends in Love (1982)
  • A Special Part of Me (1984)
  • Right From the Heart (1985)
  • Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis (1986)
  • Once in a While (1988)
  • In the Still of the Night (1989)
  • The Island (1989)
  • In a Sentimental Mood: Mathis Sings Ellington (1990)
  • How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (1993)
  • All About Love (1996)
  • Because You Loved Me: The Songs of Diane Warren (1998)
  • Mathis on Broadway (2000)
  • The Christmas Album (2002)
  • Isn't It Romantic: The Standards Album (2005)
  • A Night to Remember (2008)
  • Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville (2010)
  • Sending You a Little Christmas (2013)
  • Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook (2017)
  • I Love My Lady (2017)note 

    Compilation Albums 
  • Johnny’s Greatest Hits (1958)
  • More Johnny’s Greatest Hits (1959)
  • Portrait of Johnny (1961)
  • Johnny’s Newest Hits (1963)
  • I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits (1964)
  • The Great Years (1964)
  • The Impossible Dream (1969)
  • People (1969)
  • Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits (1972)
  • Johnny Mathis Sings the Great Songs (1974)
  • The Johnny Mathis Collection/The Best of Johnny Mathis (1976)
  • The Mathis Collection (1977)
  • Tears and Laughter (1980)
  • The Best of Johnny Mathis 1975–1980 (1980)
  • The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album (1981)
  • Celebration – The Anniversary Album (1981)
  • 16 Most Requested Songs (1986)
  • The Very Best of Nat King Cole & Johnny Mathis (1990)
  • Better Together: The Duet Album (1991)
  • The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection (1993)
  • 20 Greatest Hits (1994)
  • The Hits of Johnny Mathis (1995)
  • The Ultimate Hits Collection (1998)
  • The Essential Johnny Mathis (2004)
  • The Very Best of Johnny Mathis (2006)
  • Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration (2006)
  • Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (2006)
  • The Ultimate Collection (2011)
  • The Classic Christmas Album (2014)
  • Gold (2020)


His music contains examples of:

  • Break Up Song: "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" is this as a duet with Deneice Williams.
  • Christmas Songs: He's recorded several Christmas albums over his career, with the first (1958's Merry Christmas) being one of the best-selling holiday albums of all time.
  • Greatest Hits Album: Johnny's Greatest Hits codified the format when it was first released in 1958, and it remained a fixture on the Billboard chart for about a decade.
  • Rearrange the Song: "Love Never Felt So Good" originated as a demo by Michael Jackson in 1983, before having much of its lyrics rewritten by Paul Anka for Mathis' use. Jackson's demo would later be given a remix on his 2014 posthumous album Xscape.
  • Retraux: Fitting its nature as an archival album, the standalone CD release of I Love My Lady brings back the standardized packaging featured on CD releases by Columbia Records and its subsidiaries during the 1980s. The disc tray is solid black (as was standard for CDs before the mid-1990s), the spines feature blocky red text on a white background, the back cover has a large white barcode stripe on the left, and the disc label is identical to a vintage '80s Columbia disc. The hype sticker is even based on the one used for Columbia's "Nice Price" series of budget reissues for best-selling albums. The only major deviation is that the front cover excludes the Compact Disc logo and the "Digitally Mastered Analog Recording" badge.
  • Silly Love Songs: His first hit "Wonderful! Wonderful!" was one, and there were many more to come after that.

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