I am a musician. My passion for music has obliterated everything in its path for my entire life. Whenever there was a choice between music and anything else, music won hands down every time. No one person or material thing could ever come close to the feeling I get when the music is right.
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Singer, songwriter. Born Barry Alan Pincus in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for his romantic and borderline saccharine songs, Barry Manilow was a whipping boy for the critics through much of the 1970s even as he sold millions of albums and gained a huge  audience base. Though he didn't always write the songs, even when recording work by other artists Manilow still cultivated a lush and melodic musical style that was popular during the pre-rock era. His style evolved during the early-1980s from tame, string-laden, AM-radio pop to a more classic, jazzy sound that was heavily influenced by swing and 1930s and 1940s Broadway show tunes (many of which he later covered).
Unabashedly embracing a sentimental style that appealed primarily to white middle-class women of the working and homemaking sort, it is unsurprising that this Brooklyn born and raised songwriter was frequently denounced by the male-dominated rock and rock critic worlds. Because forms of entertainment associated with women such as soap operas, romance novels, and the like have historically been devalued, those who cater to that audience have been routinely dismissed by mainstream critics.
Unlike his ragtag rock 'n' roll world counterparts, however, Barry  Manilow's resume has "professionalism" written all over it. After taking up a variety of instruments at an early age, Manilow attended both the New York College of Music and the Juilliard School, and in 1967 he went on to work as the musical director of a CBS network television show. From there Manilow remained busy writing a successful Off-Broadway adaptation of The Drunkard, doing musical arrangement work for Ed Sullivan Productions, and writing a number of well-known commercial jingles for Dr. Pepper, Band-Aids, and other advertisements. Throughout the 1970s his voice could be heard singing the McDonald's jingle "You deserve a break today." He even released a medley of his commercials on one of his 1970s albums.
He 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-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--"I Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It," "Could It Be Magic," and "Copacabana (At the Copa)"--soon followed, as did a Grammy and a Tony 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.
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In terms of both record sales and career longevity, Barry Manilow is one of the most successful adult contemporary singers ever. That success hasn't necessarily translated to respect (or even ironic hipster appreciation) in most quarters; Manilow's music has been much maligned by critics and listeners alike, particularly the romantic ballads that made his career, which were derided as maudlin schlock even during his heyday. It's true that Manilow's taste for swelling choruses and lush arrangements often bordered on  bombastic, but unlike many of his MOR peers, Manilow wasn't aiming to make smooth, restrained background music -- he conceived of himself as a pop entertainer and all-around showman in the classic mold, and his performances and stage shows were accordingly theatrical.
Manilow dominated pop music during the latter half of the '70s like few other performers, spinning off a long series of hit singles (including 13 number one hits on the adult contemporary charts) and platinum albums that essentially made the Arista label. The well began to run dry by the early '80s; no longer a superstar expected to deliver blockbuster hits, Manilow was free to explore his long-held taste for swing, pop standards, and Broadway show tunes, which dominated his albums from the mid-'80s on. He has continued to record steadily, and his popularity never completely eroded, as evidenced by the number three chart debut of his 2002 greatest-hits package, Ultimate Manilow, and the number one peak of his 2006 covers album, Greatest Songs of the Fifties.
Barry Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1946, in Brooklyn,  and grew up in its low-income Williamsburg section. His father left the family when Barry was two, and he eventually adopted his mother's maiden name of Manilow. He began playing piano and accordion at age seven, and following high school, he was accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, which he paid for by working in the CBS mail room. From there, he became musical director of the CBS show Callback, and supported himself for the next few years by writing, producing, and performing advertising jingles (including high-profile campaigns for State Farm, Dr. Pepper, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and more).
In 1971, he met Bette Midler, who hired him as her pianist, arranger, and musical director; he served as her accompanist on her legendary pre-fame tour of New York City's gay bathhouses, masterminded her first two albums (1972's The Divine Miss M and its self-titled follow-up), and debuted some of his original material at her Carnegie Hall show in the summer of 1972. Thanks to his gig with Midler, Manilow was able to land a record deal of his own with the fledgling Bell label, and his debut album, Barry Manilow I, was released in 1973. It didn't sell very well, and when Bell became Arista, label head Clive Davis asked Manilow to record a pop tune called "Brandy," which had been a U.K. hit for its co-writer, Scott English. Manilow changed the song into a ballad and changed the title to "Mandy" (to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass hit "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)"); released on 1974's Barry Manilow II, "Mandy" became a number one hit early the next year. The Broadway-esque follow-up, "It's a Miracle," hit the Top 20, and a re-release of the Chopin-adapted ballad "Could It Be Magic" (from the first album) hit the Top Ten.
With his career thus established, Manilow recorded an even stronger  follow-up album in 1975's Tryin' to Get the Feeling. "I Write the Songs" (ironically, written by Beach Boys sideman Bruce Johnston) became his second number one pop hit in early 1976, and with the title track also hitting the Top Ten, the album went triple platinum. Manilow consolidated his emerging stardom with This One's for You, released toward the end of the year; it produced hits in the title track, the Top Ten "Weekend in New England," and the number one "Looks Like We Made It." In 1977, Manilow released the concert double-LP Live, which became his first and only number one album, as well as his biggest hit with sales of over four million copies. The same year, he won an Emmy for his first prime-time special on ABC (aptly titled The Barry Manilow Special); the network would air Manilow specials for the next several years. Even Now was another triple-platinum success in 1978; "Can't Smile Without You," the disco-tinged "Copacabana," and "Somewhere in the Night" all hit the Top Ten, with the first two marking a departure from Manilow's typical reliance on ballads for his hits.
The first signs that Manilow's run of success was in jeopardy came on 1979's One Voice, which -- although it sold well and produced a Top Ten hit in an unlikely cover of former Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter's "Ships" -- didn't have the same consistency of craftsmanship as its predecessors. Released in 1980, Barry spawned Manilow's last Top Ten hit, "I Made It Through the Rain"; though he remained a massively popular international touring act, and continued to place hits on the adult contemporary charts for a few more years, the prime of his pop success was over. In 1984, Manilow officially changed direction, recording an album of swinging, jazzy originals called 2:00 A.M. Paradise Café; it featured jazz greats like Mel Tormé, Sarah Vaughan, Shelly Manne, and Gerry Mulligan. Subsequent ventures like 1987's Swing Street, 1991's Showstoppers, 1994's Singin' with the Big Bands, and 1998's Manilow Sings Sinatra all explored various facets of swing, vocal jazz, and traditional pop. In addition, Manilow's stage musical Barry Manilow's Copacabana: The Musical premiered in 1994, and continued to tour the U.S. and U.K.; another musical, Harmony, was premiered in 1999.
Manilow's long relationship with Arista ended when he signed to the jazz-oriented Concord label, for which he debuted in late 2001 with the concept album Here at the Mayflower, which continued his evolution into a pre-rock pop stylist. Manilow began to reenter the wider public eye in 2002, performing "Let Freedom Ring" at the Super Bowl pre-game show; aided by television advertising, Ultimate Manilow entered the album charts at a stunning number three position that March. A DVD release of the collection followed, as well as a two-disc set of live music called 2 Nights Live that had been culled from a weekend in New Jersey. Manilow went back to the studio in 2005 to record a diverse collection of tracks from the 1950s with producer and music mogul Clive Davis. The resulting Greatest Songs of the Fifties, a labor of love, became a surprise hit and topped the charts in early 2006. A sequel, Greatest Songs of the Sixties, arrived at the end of that year. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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| Honors |
 2007 - BARRY HONORED FOR 75 MILLION ALBUM SALES
BMG Record Executives from around the globe recently met at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for their annual Global Conference. Barry was honored during the event with a plaque to commemorate 75 million career album sales! (Clive Davis is pictured below presenting the plaque to Barry.)
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STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK-OF-FAME:
Located outside the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood
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Barry awarded GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS: BROADWAY GOLD TICKET ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Barry Manilow's 1983 SRO Engagement at the Uris Theatre (fastest sellout and largest one day box office gross on Broadway) for more awards of Barry click HERE: |
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VITAL STATS Barry Manilow Information |
| Birth name: | Barry Alan Pincus | Birth Date:
| June 17, 1943 | Birth Place:
| Brooklyn, New York US | | Ethnicity: | White | | Eye Color | Blue | | Hair Color | Brown - Light | | Height: | 6' (183 cm) | | Star Sign: | Gemini | | Nationality: | American | | Education: | University: New York College of Music
The Julliard School of Music | | Family: | Barry doesn't have any children. But he was married at one time to his high School sweetheart Susan. But this marriage only lasted 18 months. and that was the last time Barry was ever married. | | Resides in: | Palm Springs/California | Native Town:
| Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York | Pets:
| proud owner of two dogs |
Hobbies
| - He likes... going to the movies,
- having dinner with friends,
- listening to music,shopping,
| favorites Color:
| Black, Blue |
Special Character:
| great sense of humor,
witty,quick-witted,
shy,
not very sociable - he doesn't like parties,
not able to relax entirely,
impatient,
poor eye-sight,he is... cheating with his age,engaged in a lot of charity projectsand is keeping a journal for many years | | Religion: | Jewish | | Claim to Fame | "Mandy" |
Occupations | |
Instruments | |
Labels | | | Commercial |
Barry's contribution to commercial jingles. Barry was involved in writing, recording and/or arranging many very popular commercials in his early career. Some of the jingles Barry was involved with are: "You deserve a break today"-McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken-"Get a bucket of chicken, finger lickin' good, etc.", Pepsi-"Join the Pepsi people", Dr. Pepper-"Be a pepper. Drink Dr. Pepper.", Stridex-"Give your face something to smile about." He also was involved with the "Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there." jingle for State Farm Insurance which is still used today.
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| Barry Charity works |
To help with the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 which affected the Charleston, South Carolina, area, Manilow held a benefit concert November 12, 1989 at the University of South Carolina’s Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, where the $10 tickets sold out in three hours, and asked concertgoers to bring canned food to be donated to residents in disaster areas. Before his concert, Mayor T. Patton Adams named that day “Barry Manilow Day” and Manilow presented the Red Cross and the Salvation Army with checks of $42,500 each.
To help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, for every US dollar donated by his fans to the American Red Cross through the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope website, Manilow personally matched, and the fund itself also matched, tripling the original donation. The fund delivered $150,000 in less than 48 hours to the American Red Cross, and hoped to raise a grand total of $300,000.
| Causes Supported | Charities Supported |
- At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths,
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