Engelbert Humperdinck will release Faithfully, a new album of contemporary interpretations, on August 28, featuring his version of the KISS classic Beth alongside songs by Journey, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, The Cars and others.
by Paul Cashmere
Engelbert Humperdinck has recorded KISS’s Beth for his forthcoming album Faithfully, giving the 1976 rock ballad a new interpretation shaped by his own experience of spending long hours in recording studios. The album will be released by Cleopatra Records on August 28, 2026, with Beth positioned alongside interpretations of songs by Journey, The Cars, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne and other established rock and pop writers.
The decision to record Beth has a particularly personal connection for Humperdinck. In discussing the song, he recalled hearing it in his office and being immediately drawn to its arrangement and storyline.
“I was very impressed with it with the sound and the arrangement,” Humperdinck said. “It took to my ear and the storyline, of course, appeals to me because being an artist and being in the studio all the time, these lyrics really fall into place.”
For Humperdinck, the central idea of the song reflects an experience familiar to performers. The lyric is written from the perspective of a musician who remains in the studio while a partner waits at home. Humperdinck said that his own career provided a direct connection to that narrative, recalling occasions when his wife would call asking where he was while he was still working on an album.
He has also filmed a video for his version of Beth. The recording predates his friendship with KISS co-founder Gene Simmons, with whom Humperdinck later recorded a duet. Humperdinck described Simmons as “a lovely man” and said he was pleased to record a song with which Simmons is closely associated.
Beth was originally recorded by KISS for Destroyer, released in 1976. The song was written from a demo called Beck, with Peter Criss and Stan Penridge credited as writers and producer Bob Ezrin reshaping the composition for KISS. Ezrin slowed the arrangement and expanded its orchestral character, creating a striking departure from the band’s harder rock material.
The recording featured Criss on lead vocals, with piano, acoustic guitar and orchestral instrumentation providing the musical framework. Members of KISS other than Criss did not perform on the original recording. The orchestral approach helped distinguish Beth from the rest of Destroyer and ultimately contributed to its commercial breakthrough. The song reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming KISS’s highest-charting US single. It was later certified gold in the United States and received the 1977 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Song.
Its success also changed the trajectory of Destroyer. After initially appearing as the B-side of Detroit Rock City, radio programmers began favouring Beth, leading Casablanca Records to reissue it as the A-side. The unexpected response helped extend the album’s commercial life.
Humperdinck’s Faithfully places that KISS ballad inside a much broader catalogue of contemporary material. The album opens with Journey’s Faithfully, a song Humperdinck first performed for Australian audiences during his 2024 tour. Noise11 reported at the time that the Journey interpretation was part of a forthcoming concept album, with Humperdinck presenting the song during his Australian shows.
The 15-track collection moves across several generations of popular songwriting. Alongside Faithfully and Beth are Take My Breath Away, More Than Words, Something, I Was Made For Lovin’ You, Mama, I’m Coming Home, Drive, Feel Like Makin’ Love, Heaven, I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, Always My Love, Alone, Can’t Get It Out Of My Head and I Won’t Back Down. The programme also includes one newly composed original song.
The album features a substantial list of guest musicians, including Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain, keyboardist Rick Wakeman, guitarist Al Di Meola, Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel, Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson and guitarist Eric Gales. The production incorporates orchestra and string arrangements, placing Humperdinck’s vocal performances within arrangements considerably different from the rock recordings that originally established many of these songs.
The project continues Humperdinck’s long practice of moving between eras and genres rather than restricting his repertoire to the standards that made him famous. His catalogue includes the early international successes Release Me, The Last Waltz and A Man Without Love, while later projects have explored country material and contemporary songs. Noise11 has previously documented his willingness to introduce newer repertoire into his live performances, including Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud and Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire.
His connection with Australia has also remained significant throughout his career. In July 2026, Humperdinck returned to Melbourne for a Celebration Tour performance at Hamer Hall at the age of 90. That concert included Faithfully and the newly recorded original I’ve Got You among the newer material in his set.
Faithfully therefore represents another chapter in a recording career that has repeatedly placed Humperdinck’s voice against songs originating outside his traditional repertoire. Beth is particularly suited to that approach because its subject is not tied exclusively to the world of hard rock. At its centre is the familiar tension between a working musician and the person waiting at home, a theme Humperdinck says he understands from decades spent making records.
“I hope that the people listening to it will appreciate the fact that this is an artist’s life really,” he said. “I’ve spent hours and hours and hours in the studio and not being able to come home.”
Faithfully will be released by Cleopatra Records on August 28, 2026. Beth will be accompanied by its own video, offering a visual counterpart to Humperdinck’s interpretation of one of KISS’s most unexpected and enduring songs.
Tracklisting
Faithfully (Journey)
Take My Breath Away (Berlin)
More Than Words (Extreme)
Something (The Beatles)
I Was Made For Lovin’ You (Kiss)
Mama, I’m Coming Home (Ozzy Osbourne)
Drive (The Cars)
Feel Like Makin’ Love
Heaven (Brian Adams)
I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing (Aerosmith)
Beth (Kiss)
Always My Love (PJ and Duncan aka Ant and Dec)
Alone (Heart)
Can’t Get It Out Of My Head (ELO)
I Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty)
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