Music legend Engelbert Humperdinck will return to his home town Leicester next week to celebrate his 70th birthday.

Humperdinck was recently awarded an honorary Doctorate in Music by the town's university, in recognition of his contribution to popular music and entertainment, and his charity work, which includes being a patron of the County Air Ambulance, based in the East Midlands.

The singer was at the height of his success in the late 1960s and 70s, and has continued to release albums regularly since then with album sales totalling over 130 million.

When asked by an interviewer about his impending birthday, he said with a smile: "I see everything from this point on as the second phase in my career. Some artists might say it’s exhausting. I say it’s nothing, a spit in the ocean. I love my job."

Playing an average of 100 concerts a year, he is currently touring the USA, with a June tour of Australia and New Zealand also in the works.