| B i o g r a p h y |
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus;
June 17, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. He is
best known for such recordings as "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You",
and "Copacabana (At the Copa)". In 1978, five of his albums were on the
best-seller charts simultaneously, a feat equalled only by Herb Alpert,
The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and
Johnny Mathis. He has recorded a string of Billboard hit singles and
multi-platinum albums that have resulted in his being named Radio &
Records' No. 1 adult contemporary artist, and winning three straight
American Music Awards for favorite pop/rock male artist. Between 1974
and 1983 Manilow had three No. 1 singles and 25 that reached the top 40.
Although not a favorite of music critics, several well-known
entertainers have praised Manilow, including Sinatra, who was quoted in
the 1970s saying, "He's next." In 1988, Bob Dylan stopped Manilow at a
party, hugged him and said, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're
all inspired by you." As well as producing and arranging albums for
other artists, including Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick, Manilow has
written songs for musicals, films, and commercials. From February 2005
to December 30, 2009, he was the headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton,
performing hundreds of shows before ending his relationship with the
hotel. Since March 2010, he has headlined at the Paris hotel in Las
Vegas. He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him
one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. On July 4, 2013, he
performed live on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol as part of A
Capitol Fourth on PBS.
Barry Manilow got his foot in the door of the pop music world while
working as part of a duo with the then-unknown Bette Midler. Working out
of New York City gay bathhouses as her pianist, Manilow soon became her
musical director and arranger, co-producing and arranging her Grammy
Award-winning debut album and its follow-up. His own debut album, on the
other hand, went nowhere, but his second album featured the number one
Billboard Pop single, "Mandy," laying the groundwork for his rise to
fame throughout the rest of the 1970s. Many more hit songs, including "I
Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It," "Could It Be Magic" and
"Copacabana (At the Copa)," followed, as did Grammy and Tony wins for a
Broadway performance.
In the early 1980s, Manilow began to position himself as a modern
interpreter of showtunes and pop standards, working with singers Mel
Torme and Sarah Vaughan and veteran jazz instrumentalists Gerry Mulligan
and Shelly Manne on 1984's 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe. He followed this same
path on 1987's Swing Street and 1991's Showstoppers, on which he sang
with Michael Crawford and Barbara Cook. One of Manilow's self-described
career highlights was scoring music to a collection of unpublished
lyrics by Johnny Mercer, the famed lyricist who penned a multitude of
pop standards from the 1930s to the 1950s. From pop standards to show
tunes, Manilow has captured a devoted audience who continue to maintain
his importance to American music and popular culture.
As testament to his musical signifigance, Manilow was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2002, alongside Sting and Michael
Jackson.