A dusty reel. A song no one ever heard. And a memory that refused to stay buried.
In early 2025, while inspecting old Decca Records archives in London, a technician stumbled upon an unmarked tape reel from the 1970s. What played back through the speakers stunned the room into silence: the unmistakable voice of Engelbert Humperdinck, raw and youthful, singing a song that no one recognized.
The tape was traced back to 1972, a tumultuous period in Engelbert’s personal life. The ballad, believed to be titled “When You’re Gone From Me,” is filled with heartache and longing—lyrics that speak to a man reminiscing every moment with the woman he’s lost. Strikingly, Engelbert never once mentioned this song in interviews or memoirs.
A senior audio engineer confirmed: “It sounds like a one-take recording. His voice breaks in parts. It’s haunting. It feels like he was singing straight from a wound. Perhaps that’s why he kept it hidden.”
The family is now working with producers to restore the tape for a possible release in a future box set called “Hidden Tapes”, a tribute to Patricia—his late wife, who passed in 2021.