Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis. Few singers have enjoyed the longevity or the popularity as these four legendary names. They are part of American pop-culture history. They have endured for decades, enjoying cross-generational and cross-cultural audiences unmatched in the annals of popular music. Now one of them returns home. On Thurs. & Fri., July 2 & 3, former San Francisco resident Johnny Mathis will sing with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Hall.
"I went to George Washington High School and SF State," the 79-year-old singer told the B.A.R. He said that he always marvels at how tiny the city's streets are. He also notes the changes going on San Francisco.
"We've been staying in SoMa," Mathis said. "There's a lot of activity going on with all the new buildings. When we drive up to Nob Hill, the Tenderloin still looks the same!"
Mathis said that he always enjoys returning to San Francisco, and hopes to see some of the sights while he's here. "I used to be recognized everywhere, but now people don't know who I am," he said with a laugh. "I'm going to enjoy the anonymity."
Mathis signed his first recording contract with Columbia Records in 1955. Three years later he became the first recording artist in history to release a greatest hits compilation. Johnny Mathis' Greatest Hits spent an unprecedented decade on Billboard's Top Albums chart. He has recorded 80 original albums to date, and shows no sign of slowing down.
"I'm lucky to be with Columbia," he said. "I had a couple of hit records early on and made a niche." Those hits include "Chances Are," the song that made his career. It remains one of his most popular staples. He calls it a "wonderful song," and said he plans to sing it with the Symphony.
"I'm grateful that people still listen to that kind of music," he said. "From the beginning I've always been a little more esoteric than other singers."
One such example, he pointed out, was his hit "The 12th of Never." "That was an old folk song supposedly written by Henry VIII," he said. "It was the flip side of 'Chances Are,' and it became a hit in its own right. I sing those songs every night."
Mathis said that he's honored to be considered in the same league as crooners like Sinatra and Streisand. "Barbra and I have been pals for a very long time," he said. "She calls me every once in a while. She has an incredible compound in Malibu where she gives beautiful parties. I sang at her birthday party, and we've recorded together."
Mathis' journey hasn't always been an easy one. In 1982, he revealed that he was gay, and received death threats. "Homosexuality is a way of life that I've grown accustomed to," he said to Us magazine at the time.
He didn't discuss the subject again for decades, but in recent years as gay rights became more acceptable to the mainstream, Mathis has begun to open up once more. In 2006, he admitted that his silence regarding the subject of his sexuality was in part due to those death threats, and in part "generational." In 2014, he told the [UK] Guardian that he has no regrets about not having married or started a family of his own. He has many nieces and nephews and feels like a father to them.
As he prepared for his return to San Francisco, the singer reflected on his longevity. "I'll be 80 this year," he said. "I don't know how I got to be 80. I act like a kid because that's how I feel."
Mathis hopes that you'll celebrate his half-century mark in show business. "I hope you'll enjoy the concert," he said. "I love singing with that orchestra."
See you there, Johnny!
Johnny Mathis sings with the San Francisco Symphony, Thurs. & Fri., July 2 & 3, at 7:30 p.m. Davies Symphony Hall, SF. Tickets: