Tony Christie Tony Christie Tony Christie (born 25 April 1943) is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This The Way To) Amarillo", a double UK chart success. He lived for many years in Sheffield where his wife, Sue, was born. He used to be a frequent artist on the stage at many working men's clubs like his contemporary, Joe Cocker. Discovered and managed by Harvey Lisberg, he had three hits in 1971, beginning with "Las Vegas" which reached number 21 in the UK, and went on to have two Top Twenty hits in
(Is This the Way to) Amarillo the song was first released in Europe, where it has become much more popular than in the composers' native country, with a big-band/orchestral pop arrangement sung by Tony Christie. Christie's version was a major hit in Europe and a modest success in his native United Kingdom upon its release, then became even more popular in the mid-2000s when the song was reissued. As Christie's version failed to make a major impact in the U.S., Sedaka released his own recording of the song in 1977, which narrowly missed the top 40 but was an easy listening hit in the U.S. and