We Wish Legendary Johnny Mathis a Happy Retirement

FOREVER 5^th DIMENSION is wishing “The Voice of Romance,” Johnny Mathis, a wonderful retirement. Yesterday, May 18, he took the concert stage for the final time at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in New Jersey concluding an illustrious nearly seven-decade career in extensive live touring and on recording. Mathis released over 70 albums and sold more than 350 million records worldwide

His hits “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not for Me to Say,” catapulted him to fame in the late 50s, followed by the chart-topping “Chances Are.” His 1958 album, “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” spent nearly 500 consecutive weeks on the Billboard charts, according to the Smithsonian. In the late 70’s, his chart-topping soulful hit with Denise Williams, “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” expanded his reputation as crooner of romantic ballads and beloved Christmas classics.

OUR PERSONAL REFLECTION: A friend to the members of The 5^th Dimension, Johnny was a fan. In fact, he went out of his way to issue a quote for the back of LaMonte McLemore’s hit memoir “From Hobo Flats to The 5^th Dimension,” which I co-wrote, telling me, “Robert, I took some time…I wanted to get it just right for LaMonte!” He stated, “When a tall, handsome young man came to my house many years ago to photograph me for Elegant magazine, I had no idea that his other job as a singer would propel him and his fellow members of The 5^th Dimension to world fame. I am so proud of LaMonte and cherish his friendship.”

“Elegant” was the short-lived but trailblazing first life & style magazine for both Black men and woman, and it was McLemore who created it in the early 60’s. He writes about Mr. Mathis in his memoir, noting the way he’d discuss with Marilyn McCoo, “how someone like Johnny carried on the tradition of Nat King Cole before him, how his smooth groove crossed over, how much we admired that quality of connecting with people through pure class.”

Mac continues, sharing this touching anecdote that makes Johnny’s back-of-the-memoir quote all the more poignant, “And Johnny proved that to me personally when we interviewed and photographed him. While he charmingly accommodated the more established reporters from the Associated Press, he asked Elegant to stay behind. ‘Let me help you guys get off the ground,’ he stated giving extra attention to our fledgling, Black-oriented magazine. He proceeded to not only give a tour of his home but to feed us—Johnny was quite a chef, too. This brotherly act defied the cold reputation of Hollywood.”

(Above: Billy Davis, Jr. having sing-along fun with Johnny Mathis and Diana Ross when The 5th Dimension headlined at the Royal Box, Manhattan)

Mathis who will be 90 on September 30th, shares a birthday with Marilyn McCoo. FOREVER 5^th DIMENSION wishes Johnny the many blessings of retirement as we honor the joy he has brought to millions through his musical magic and understated, yet history-making elegance.

–Robert-Allan Arno

Bonus Forever 5th Dimension Fact: Johnny Mathis recorded a number of tunes that were hits for The 5th Dimension including “Up-Up and Away,” “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,” and “If I Could Reach You.”

Forever 5th Dimension by Arno, a production of The Soul of The Voice, Ltd., copyright 2008-2025, intellectual property, all rights reserved. Excerpts from “From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension,” copyright 2014 McLemore/Arno, all rights reserved.