Wayne Newton

Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the United States from the mid-to-late 20th century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas and has performed there since 1963. He is known by the nicknames “The Midnight Idol”, “Mr. Las Vegas” and “Mr. Entertainment”.

As a teenager, Newton first performed in Las Vegas in the late 1950s and was mentored by some of the nation’s biggest artists including Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Elvis Presley. In 1963, he achieved headliner status at the Flamingo, a casino hotel in Las Vegas, and soon became one of the city’s most popular performers. The Washington Post describes Newton as “America’s number one night club act” and at his peak being more prominent in Las Vegas than both Sinatra and Presley.^[1] Newton is the highest-grossing entertainer in Las Vegas history.^[2] Throughout his career, Newton has appeared in a number of movies and television shows.

His well known songs include “Danke Schoen” (1963), “Summer Wind” (1965), “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” (1965), “Daddy, Don’t You Walk So Fast” (1972) and “Years” (1980). “Danke Schoen” is Newton’s signature song and was notably used in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.