Johnny Mathis Interview (page: 6 / 7) Grammy Hall of Fame	Print Interview

Do you feel humbled by your success?

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.

At what particular moment in your career did you know that you had arrived?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. 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.

There are a lot of big egos out there. How did you keep your humility?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. 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.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

Get the Flash Player to see this video. 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.

[ Key to Success ] Courage

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.

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.

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