Happy birthday, Barry Manilow! In honor of Manilow's special day (June 17), Billboard takes a look at the singer's top 20 biggest songs on the Billboard Hot 100.
Manilow's Hot 100 career started with a bang, as his 1974 chart debut, "Mandy," sailed all the way to No. 1 on the Jan. 18, 1975-dated chart. The smash earned him a Grammy Award nomination for record of the year and marked the first of three chart-toppers. He followed it with the No. 1s "I Write the Songs" in January of 1976 (and it leads our exclusive recap of his biggest Hot 100 hits, see list below) and "Looks Like We Made It" in July of 1977.
Coming up second on our recap is his 1978 hit "Can't Smile Without You," which peaked at No. 3 in April of that year, tallying a total of 19 weeks on the chart. Other top 10 favorites include "Could it Be Magic," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again," "Weekend in New England," "Copacabana (At the Copa)," "Ships," "Somewhere in the Night," and "I Made it Through the Rain" -- all of which charted between 1975 and 1981.
On the Billboard 200, Manilow has landed 15 top 10 albums, including two No. 1s: Barry Manilow Live (1977) and The Greatest Songs of the Fifties, which debuted atop the chart in 2006.
Barry Manilow's Top 20 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
Rank, Title, Peak Position, Peak Date
"I Write the Songs," No. 1 (1 week), Jan. 17, 1976
"Can't Smile Without You," No. 3, April 22, 1978
"Mandy," No. 1 (1 week), Jan. 18, 1975
"Looks Like We Made It," No. 1 (1 week), July 23, 1977
"Could It Be Magic," No. 6, Sept. 20, 1975
"Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again," No. 10, May 22, 1976
"Weekend in New England," No. 10, Feb. 26, 1977
"Copacabana (At The Copa)," No. 8, Aug. 12, 1978
"Ships," No. 9, Dec. 1, 1979
"Somewhere in the Night," No. 9, Feb. 17, 1979
"I Made it Through the Rain," No. 10, Jan. 31, 1981
"Ready to Take a Chance Again," No. 11, Nov. 18, 1978
"It's a Miracle," No. 12, May 10, 1975
"The Old Songs," No. 15, Nov. 28, 1981
"Read 'Em and Weep," No. 18, Jan. 7, 1984
"When I Wanted You," No. 20, March 1, 1980
"Somewhere Down the Road," No. 21, Feb. 20, 1982
"Some Kind of Friend," No. 26, April 30, 1983
"Even Now," No. 19, June 24, 1978
"This One's For You," No. 29, Oct. 30, 1976
Barry Manilow's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 hits chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100, through the June 24, 2017, ranking.Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted to account for different chart turnover rates over various periods.
Long Island can’t get enough of singer/songwriter Barry Manilow who, after selling out his May 25 show, has scheduled a second performance for the Nassau Coliseum in September. The pop icon will perform on Thursday, Sept. 14 at NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, promoters announced Monday.
The New York native’s show will feature his greatest hits, along with songs from his new album, “This Is My Town: Songs of New York,” which was released on April 21 by the Verve Label Group of Universal. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 9 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, NYCBLIVE.com, or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased at the Ticketmaster Box Office at the Coliseum beginning Saturday, June 10 at noon (if tickets are still available). Presale tickets will be available beginning Friday, June 2 at 10 a.m.
Manilow, 73, has enjoyed a 50-year career in show business, releasing pop classics including “Mandy,” “Looks Like We Made it,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” and “Copacabana.” He began his career writing some of advertising’s most famous jingles, including some for State Farm, McDonald’s and Band-Aid.
The new Nassau Coliseum reopened on April 5 after undergoing an extensive and controversial renovation following the departure of the New York Islander’s for Brooklyn. The Coliseum can accommodate up to 16,000 seats for concerts.
Barry Manilow grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, back when the now ultra-hip New York neighborhood was less than desirable. His earliest music gigs, he worked as a piano player, accompanying other more successful artists. Then his single, "Mandy," released in 1974, hit big. When he got paid for it, he literally went from broke to millionaire in a single day.
Clive Davis, then-president of Arista Records, personally handed Manilow a $1 million check. "I'll never forget it, because that was the beginning of my career," Manilow tells Forbes. "I didn't tell him I had literally just bounced a check that morning."
Manilow was ill-equipped to handle the windfall. He was passionate about music, but his finances were another matter. "We [musicians] are all into the music!" Manilow tells CNBC. "I came from bouncing checks at the A&P [supermarket] to getting big crazy checks. What am I supposed to do with that?"
So Manilow hired someone to take care of his finances. What he didn't do, however, was think carefully about hiring the right person. "I hired the wrong guy," says Manilow to CNBC. "From 'Mandy' all the way through to 'Copacabana,' I didn't see anything. And I didn't know it until my manager, Garry Kief, came along and said, 'You know, you have only got $11,000 in the bank.' From 'Mandy' all the way through 'Copa,' I had $11,000 in the bank."
"Mandy" had topped the charts. So did "Copacabana," which came out in 1978. It also won Manilow a Grammy Award. Those were prolific years for the singer. He released five full albums. So Manilow was shocked and upset when he realized had only $11,000 left to show for it. He didn't have a choice but to start over. "I started to go to work," he tells CNBC.
Indeed, he did. Manilow released more than 30 of his own albums and produced albums for other artists including Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson and Dionne Warwick. He won numerous accolades including 11 Grammy nominations, two Emmy's, a Tony for his performance in "Barry Manilow on Broadway," and three American Music Awards. He even produced jingles and commercials for brands including State Farm, Band-Aids, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and McDonald's.
With a career including more than 85 million albums sold worldwide and 50 Top 40 singles, Manilow is no longer bouncing checks. But he has become more involved in managing his own finances. "I pay attention more than I did, believe me," he tells CNBC.
He's still not interested in spending his days obsessing over money, though. "I like a piano keyboard not a computer keyboard," Manilow says. First and foremost, he is driven by his passion to make music. "I started off just wanting to be a musician and that's all that is important to me," he says. "The rest of it I am grateful to have, don't get me wrong, but it's never really been what I went after."
Despite saying farewell on a 2015 tour, Barry Manilow is returning to the road -- and Atlanta. The hit machine will perform at the Fox Theatre at 7:30 p.m. July 27.
Tickets for the concert will go on sale at 10 a.m. June 4 via www.foxtheatre.org, the venue box office and by calling 1-855-285-8499; a Citi cardmember presale runs from 10 a.m. May 31 through 10 p.m. June 3 (check www.citiprivatepass.com for details). Tickets are $49-$299.
Manilow, who recently graced the cover of People magazine, just released “This is My Town: Songs of New York,” which pays tribute to his Brooklyn upbringing with tracks including the classics “On Broadway” and “Lonely Town” and original Manilow compositions, “Coney Island” and “On the Roof.”
Manilow’s “One Last Time!” tour visited Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth in June 2015; the last time he played the Fox was April 2002.
Barry Manilow fans flooded the Nassau Coliseum Thursday night for a chance to see the perennial entertainer perform his first local show since coming out as gay in April. The Brooklyn native is in the midst of a small tour promoting his new album, "This is My Town: Songs of New York." In addition to the classics, "It's a Miracle," "Mandy," "Could be Magic" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)," the “Fanilows” were treated to songs about the big city to the west like, "Brooklyn Blues" and "New York City Rhythm."
Manilow bantered with the crowd after almost every song, which created somewhat of an intimate experience in the newly-renovated arena. Manilow commented on the current state of pop music, stating, "It's just not melodic. Lots of great rhythm but no melodies." To the younger members of the audience, he put himself in perspective by admitting, "I was the Justin Bieber of the '70s" ... Manilow will return to Nassau Coliseum on September 14!
Barry Manilow is making his way to Foxwoods Resort Casino for a Saturday night, May 27, concert in the Grand Theater. The singer-songwriter will perform a mix of his greatest hits, plus tunes from his new album, “This is my Town: Songs of New York.” Tickets to the show include a copy of the album. Manilow’s new record came out in April and celebrates the Big Apple with such songs as “New York City Rhythm,” “On the Roof” and “The Brooklyn Bridge,” a virtual duet with the late Mel Tormé.
The veteran singer’s fans, aka “Fanilows,” have been especially supportive since he came out publicly about being gay, according to a recent Reuters story that said he received thousands of letters of encouragement over the last month. Manilow, 73, told Reuters he didn’t come out sooner because he feared he might disappoint his mostly female fan base. But he said he should not have been afraid, “because my fans, and frankly the public, they care about my happiness and I have always known that.” The pop legend and his longtime partner have been together for 39 years and were married in 2014, according to an article in People magazine.
Earlier this month, Manilow received a Broadcast Music Inc. award for his decades of success in the U.S. music industry. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow has sold more than 80 million records around the globe and is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, with more than 50 Top 40 hits. He’s especially known for such hits as “Mandy” and “Looks Like We Made It.”
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Grand Theater, 350 Trolley Line Blvd., Mashantucket. Friday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m. $253.75, $178.75, $98.75. 800-200-2882, foxwoods.com
Singer, songwriter, arranger, musician and producer Barry Manilow had the distinct honor of performing with the Durant Middle School Choir. Aprill Raines as Middle School Choir Director, has a memory that will be hard to top. Her students performed song and choreography on stage with the Vegas performer. He brought his full Copacabana stage to Durant’s Choctaw Grand Theater at Choctaw Casino Resort.
His music people came to guide and show Raines students what to do for their part in the performance. Raines said, “We had a wonderful time with Barry’s Choir Manager Doug, and his Choreographer Kye, who was also one of Barry’s backup singers.” They didn’t have many days to practice so the backstage time, before the show, was very important to the choir.
Many students had not heard of Manilow, but their parents were excited for them. James Airington, another 8th grade choir student said, “I actually knew about Barry Manilow and a lot of his pieces. I thought it was really cool we were going to perform with him. It scared me a little bit at first,” because he said he was in the big leagues.
Mazie Bell, DMS Choir student was really excited, too. She said, “I hadn’t heard of him, but once I told my family and my parents, they told me more about him. My Dad made me listen to Barry Manilow for about 2 hours.” That was her crash course in Manilow music.
Middle School Choir student Chloe Cagle said, “We were in this holding area and the Choir Master was in there and he had a piano. We all stood in our regular arrangement for a show choir rehearsal and we stood around the piano and went through our pieces with him. We had our choreography with Kye, we did that in that same little holding area.”
Cagle said they learned exactly when the cue would come and they were to raise their hands to the music. She said, “It was “Miracle.” We would put our hands by our sides and then throw them up in the air, we’d do that on “Miracle” and “Spectacle.” Cagle said, “There was a section in Copacabana during the instrumental break where he took a minute to acknowledge everyone on the stage.”
Raines said, “One of my choir dads brought an album of Barry’s Greatest Hits and Doug was able to get it signed for us. I’m going to have the kids who performed, sign the inside and display it in the choir room.”
Airington said, “We went through the music and made sure our parts were ok and then we took a break to rest our voices.” His favorite song is Copacabana so he was glad that was a song featured in their performance. Airington said about the moment he was walking on stage he was thinking, “Oh my gosh! I’m on stage with Barry Manilow.”
Bell said, “Those hours waiting backstage were some of the coolest hours I’ve ever had. When we rehearsed songs we didn’t really know, so it was a cool experience. Being in that choir room was kind of overwhelming, being in that new spot. We were rehearsing with the new director Doug. He was very cool, for a backstage guy I guess.”
Seventh grader Jayden Manous said the audience applause was thunderously loud, “It was so loud. My parents were excited, they got to come see it. It was a really cool experience.” Choir student Azure Ammons-Coxsey said, “I really didn’t know who he was at first. Then I found out he won Grammys. It was really big for me and I loved it.”
Manilow at 73 shows no sign of slowing down and he gave his all for the show. With 80 million records sold worldwide, Manilow is a feather in the young choir students cap, that will be hard to beat.
Cagle said, “I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like when we got there. Then, when we started walking on stage, the fog was going and it was smoky and all the lights were on us, and there were so many people out there, I just couldn’t stop smiling. It was an amazing feeling up there on that stage.”
Manilow’s 50 years of performing on stage gave the students plenty to absorb and learn. Raines said, “My students learned a lot from working with them and gained insight into the music business. We had a lot of fun on stage and made memories that will last a lifetime.” There will be many more performances and opportunities on stage, but this time on stage will be a precious memory for the rest of their lives.
Barry Manilow says he will always be a New Yorker. “I walk fast. I talk fast. I’m always rushing for a seat on the subway in my head,” says the Brooklyn native, calling from his longtime home in Palm Springs, California. “When I did concerts in the middle of the country, I had to slow down so they could understand me. In New York, it was easy.”
And after Manilow wrapped up his “One Last Time!” tour last year, which he said would be the final time he would be on the road for months at a time, his mind turned to songs about his spiritual home. “It had been in the back of my mind for a while to do an album of New York songs,” Manilow says. “And I wanted to write some stuff because I know about it.”
The result was “This Is My Town: Songs From New York” (Stiletto / Decca), which combined classic Big Apple songs with new Manilow work like the title track and memories of growing up in Williamsburg that turned into “Coney Island” and “Lovin’ at Birdland.” Fans loved the concept, sending it to No. 1 on Billboard’s pop albums chart after it was released last month as well as lining up to see him on a short tour, which includes a stop at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on Thursday. (Manilow is quick to point out that the five shows planned this month are not a tour, simply a way to promote the album, though he adds that he would be interested in perhaps doing residencies in Los Angeles, Chicago and at Nassau Coliseum, playing every few months. “The promoters think I could do it,” he says. “We’ll see if it works.”)
He laughs at the idea that some thought his “One Last Time!” tour signaled the start of retirement plans for the 73-year-old. “Look, I’m more surprised than anybody that I’m still here,” Manilow says. “I thought I’d be retired or dead by now. But I love this new album and there are three more in the pipeline. The well hasn’t run dry yet.”
However, Manilow says he can’t explain his longevity, adding that record executives told him his career as a pop star would last five years. “I believed them, but it lasted 10 years,” he said. “After that, I was so sick of me. I thought, ‘I’ve done everything I can in pop music. Let me do something else.’ And I did the ‘Paradise Café’ album and I did different kinds of albums after that. I never went back to chase the charts. . . . I still don’t know how this is happening.”
When earlier this month Manilow received the BMI Icon Award, the highest honor the music rights management company Broadcast Music Inc. gives, some tried to explain. “Barry Manilow is a visionary whose exceptional body of work has shaped the course of popular music for over five decades,” said BMI vice president Barbara Cane. “He has left a lasting imprint on every aspect of music, influenced the careers of his contemporaries, and touched the lives of many with his unique gift of artistry. His musical brilliance defies genre expectations and I cannot think of a more deserving recipient.”
Manilow, however, offers most of the credit to his fans. “I’m telling you that from the very beginning, I never wanted to do this,” Manilow says. “I was a musician, a composer. I never wanted to be singing and getting up on the stage. When I first played at the Bijou [Café in Philadelphia], I was terrible. I could feel it. . . . But people were so supportive.”
Manilow said he always wanted to repay that fan support. “It was always me and them,” he says. “I do everything I can to entertain them. One year, I even did a tour with stairways and girls with feathers. But all people talked about was the little section of ‘This One’s for You’ when I talked about my grandfather. We realized we didn’t need the girls with feathers after that. It’s always been about me and them.”
Making arrangements - Though Barry Manilow is best known for writing the songs that make the whole world sing -- selling 85 million albums worldwide and landing 11 Top 10 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart along the way -- he has always been proud of his arranging skills.
It’s a talent that he showed off at the concert tribute to music executive Clive Davis during the Tribeca Film Festival last month. There, Manilow strung together a 14-song medley of his hits — starting with “Could It Be Magic” and “Mandy,” moving through singalongs like “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Copacabana,” then ballads “Even Now,” “Weekend in New England” and “Ready to Take a Chance Again,” and then turning upbeat again with “It’s a Miracle,” “I Made It Through the Rain,” “Looks Like We Made It” and “Daybreak,” before closing with the anthems “One Voice,” “This One’s For You” and “I Write the Songs.”
Manilow also showed off his arranging skills on his new album “This Is My Town: Songs From New York” with “NYC Medley” -- which starts with Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” and goes through classics such as “New York, New York” (from “On the Town”), “Manhattan,” “How About You?,” “The Sidewalks of New York,” the disco classic “Native New Yorker” and Jay Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” and closes with “Theme From ‘New York, New York.’”
“I love arranging,” Manilow says, adding that he tried all sorts of songs for “NYC Medley,” including a rap song by Grandmaster Flash. “At one point, I thought, ‘Have I gone too far?’ But there are so many great standards about New York.”
WHO Barry Manilow. WHEN | WHERE 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 25, Nassau Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Tpke., Uniondale. INFO $18.25-$248.25; 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com
Barry Manilow, who has raised millions of dollars for Coachella Valley charities over the past 20 years, will attempt to add another half-million or so for 25 local charities in December. Manilow, who turns 74 next month, announced he will continue his tradition of performing a series of holiday concerts, titled “A Gift Of Love,” Dec. 12-13, and Dec. 15-17 at the McCallum Theatre. Instead of waiting three years between concerts, as he’s been doing since 2009, this “A Gift Of Love IV” comes just two years after the last big benefit shows.
He’ll distribute the proceeds from these shows to five fewer charities than in 2015. All of the previous concerts have sold out and each “Gift Of Love” series have raised roughly $500,000. Manilow and his management team, headed by Manilow’s husband, Garry Kief, will be distributing more money this year to the 25 charities they have selected.
The concerts traditionally mix Manilow classic songs with holiday favorites. A children’s choir usually joins him on stage as artificial snow falls on the performers. Manilow also recently released a new album, “This Is My Town: Songs of New York,” which might inspire him to do a song or two from its tracklist.
Manilow's last album, “My Dream Duets,” earned him his fifth Grammy nomination in eight years just before “A Gift Of Love III.” Manilow has recorded 47 Top 40 singles, including 12 that hit No. 1. He is ranked as the top adult contemporary chart artist of all time by R&R (Radio & Records) and Billboard magazines.
Tickets will go on sale online at a href="http://www.agiftofloveiv.com" target="tm">www.agiftofloveiv.com or by phone at (424) 298-4818 on Monday, May 22, at 10 a.m. General admission tickets range from $30 to $300. VIP tickets will run from $400 to $2,000 and include special access and benefits. A limited number of concert sponsorships also are available. Tickets will not be available at the McCallum box office.
All tickets allow purchasers to designate which of the 25 charities will benefit from their purchase. All undesignated proceeds are assigned to a general fund and are distributed equally among the participating charities. Detailed information about the VIP Premium tickets is available online at www.agiftofloveiv.com.
Manilow, a dog lover who recently attended the Evening Under the Stars benefit for AAP – Food Samaritans, will again contribute his performances to the “A Gift of Love IV” concerts, a spokesman said, and will not be compensated.
The 25 benefiting charities are:
ACT For MS
AAP-Food Samaritans
Angel View
Animal Samaritans
Barbara Sinatra Children's Center
Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley
California CareForce
College of the Desert Foundation
Desert AIDS Project
Desert Arc
Desert Cancer Foundation
The Desert Symphony
Gilda's Club Desert Cities
The Girlfriend Factor
Guide Dogs of the Desert
JFS of the Desert
The LGBT Community Center of the Desert
The Manilow Music Project
Martha's Village & Kitchen
McCallum Theatre Institute
"Paws and Hearts" Animal Assisted Therapy
S.O.S.
Tools for Tomorrow
United Cerebral Palsy of the Inland Empire
The Well in the Desert
The Manilow Music Project falls under the umbrella of the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, a nonprofit organization created by Manilow to support local, grassroots organizations that promote education, health and care. The fund donates to organizations that focus on cancer, AIDS, children’s issues, victims of abuse, the homeless and music education.
If you remember American pop culture of the '70s at all, then you remember some of the music of Barry Manilow. Imagine one-part disco-era Bee Gees and another part Liberace glitz with another equal part of Tin Pan Alley songman and you can approximate what Manilow was doing. Songs like "Mandy," "I Write the Songs" (no, he didn't actually write that one) and "Copacabana" were like schmaltzy musical tattoos onto the collective mind of the era.
Manilow, like a number of great songwriters from the '60s and '70s, got his start writing commercial jingles. (He's credited with a role in the "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there," campaign, which is, admittedly, pretty catchy.) He also worked with Bette Midler and many other artists. His new record is a showcase of songs about New York City. The piano-playing pop maestro has said he's giving up on big tours, so this might be your last to catch him in this setting.
Barry Manilow takes the stage at the Grand Theater at Foxwoods, 350 Trolley Line Blvd., Mashantucket, Saturday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m. $98.50 and up. foxwoods.com.
Barry Manilow is my all-time favorite musician. He’s a Grammy, Tony and Emmy award-winning icon who has 50 Top 40 hits, including 12 #1 singles and more than 85 million albums sold worldwide. Simply put, he’s fantastic, and I’ve wanted to interview him for the past three years. Recently, that dream came true. Barry and I discussed his new album, This is My Town: Songs of New York, his nearly-40-year relationship with his husband Garry Kief and much more. I hope you enjoy reading this interview. And don’t forget to pick up Barry’s new album. It’s spectacular!
Q: Your new album, This Is My Town: Songs of New York, is comprised of original material and cover songs - and it’s fantastic! What made you want to record this album at this point in your career? A: I come from New York. I was born and raised in the slums of Brooklyn, New York. Once you’re a New Yorker, you’re always a New Yorker. Even though I’ve lived in California for more years than I’ve spent in New York, I still consider myself a New Yorker. I still talk fast, I walk fast—I think fast. Still, I feel like I may as well live in New York. It’s always in my blood. Over the years, I’ve loved albums that have an idea to it, instead of just albums filled with love songs or pop songs. I’ve loved doing albums that have had some kind of an angle to it. I did an album that paid tribute to the big band era. Then I did one that paid tribute to Broadway called Showstoppers, and on and on and on. Every album always had some kind of an idea to it. Songs of New York is an idea I’ve always had and I always wanted to do. Now that I’m on Verve and we were looking for what would be the next album, this one seemed like a good one to do right now. That’s why I finally did an album that’s a love letter to my hometown.
Q: You’re the most successful adult contemporary artist of all time. However, your immense success has resulted in some people simply seeing you as a hit machine. They don’t realize that you’re a consummate singer, producer, composer, and lyricist who studied at Juilliard. How do you overcome this misconception? A: I don’t think it’s a misconception. There were those 10 years, those first 10 years were really about those hit singles. I was a very lucky guy because they always said a good pop career would last five years. I had 10 years of pop hits, from ‘75 to ‘85. Maybe, ‘74 to ‘84. It was a fantastic run, just a fantastic run. That’s probably where I got the reputation of just doing big pop hits. But that ended in ‘84 when radio changed. Radio stopped playing my kind of ballads and the white-boy pop records. They went to the R&B world. It was Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. They just stopped playing the kind of stuff I was producing and releasing. That forced me to figure out, what else do I do? I didn’t feel like stopping making music, and that’s when I came up with ideas for albums.
Q: As someone who has taken singing lessons, I’m astounded by the power and range of your voice. In your 70s you sound better than most singers in their 20s. A: (laughs) Really?
Q: I think so. Knowing that so many singers have blown out their voices over time, how have you maintained yours for all these years? A: Michael, I wish I could give you a great answer for a young person that is starting out. How do you take care of your voice? You see, the thing is I started out not really wanting to sing or perform. It never dawned on me to do that. I was going to be a musician, an arranger of music, a conductor, a composer. That’s really all I wanted to do. So, when I got the opportunity to make albums, I really didn’t know anything about singing, I really didn’t. I never took it seriously and then suddenly the albums began to sell and I had to get up on the stage night after night after night and sing for two hours. Of course, the first thing I did was lose my voice. It was the first thing that happened. I lost my voice on the third song every night. I never really learned how to save my voice. I never really learned how to sing. I never took singing lessons. I didn’t know the art of singing. The thing that saved me (laughs) is the monitor man. (laughs) The guy that’s in charge of what I hear on the stage. His job is a thankless job because he really can’t hear what I’m hearing. He has to guess. But those are the guys that every singer is going to rely on while on the stage to make their voice sound good. I have lucked into really talented guys that are in charge of my monitors and that’s what saves my voice. The years when I didn’t have a really great monitor man, that’s when I’d lose my voice immediately. It didn’t matter whether I had lessons or knew how to sing. It wouldn’t have mattered. I would have lost my voice. But because of a great guy in the wings that is taking care of what I hear on that stage—these are the guys I rely on to keep my voice. As far as keeping my voice while making records, it’s the same thing. What I’m hearing is in my headphones, so I’m relying on the guy in the control room. You tell the guy in the control room, “Can you make it a little brighter? Can you turn up the volume? Can you turn down the volume?” It’s all about what the guys are giving the singer in his headset. That’s what has saved my voice.
Q: I was raised by two Dads: my father and his husband. So, when I read your interview with People magazine, where you opened up about being gay for the first time, I was proud of you. What was it like discussing something that has been kept private for so long? A: Nothing changed. Garry and I have been together going on 40 years, and we raised a daughter, probably, like you were raised. Garry had a daughter when we met and she was only one-year-old, and we raised her. She turned out to be a great, beautiful girl, just like you turned out to be a successful guy. Our relationship and my being gay - I’ve always been a proud gay man. I’ve always been very proud of Garry and [me]. Nothing really changed. When I read the article, it was no big deal. I frankly think it’s no big deal to the readers either. Thank goodness, these days being gay or being married or raising kids... these days it’s no big deal. I don’t think it’s explosive anymore. Now, if you tried to do that back in the ‘70s or ‘80s, yeah, that would be a whole different story. But these days I don’t really think it’s a big deal. Reading about it, well, I think they did a really good job. I think they were very respectful. I think they were very affectionate. Garry and I were very happy with what we read.
Q: In the song “Shadow Man” you sing, “No one knows you but they all love you. Just don’t let them get too much of you. Careful man. Don’t forget you’re the Shadow Man.” Is this song autobiographical? A: (laughs) If you want it to be, it could be. Bruce and Jack, my collaborators, wrote that lyric. I didn’t write that lyric. I don’t know what they meant. I think what they’re talking about is a pop star keeping secrets. There are a lot of straight guys who could sing that song and still have things they didn’t want people to know about. Right? So, I don’t think it was a particular event that they were writing about. Certainly, when I sing it, it’s the last thing on my mind — hiding that I’m gay — because I’ve never hidden. I swear, Michael, I’ve never hidden that I am a gay man. Garry and I are so proud of our relationship. We never, never hide it. Maybe to the mass public, maybe they might have been surprised. But we’ve never hidden it. And as far as “Shadow Man” goes, that’s the last thing I would think of.
Q: Your first autobiography, Sweet Life: Adventures on the Way to Paradise, covered a good portion of your career, but so much has happened since then. When can fans expect another autobiography from you? And what would you like it to include? A: (laughs) If I were to write another autobiography, I certainly would include more about Garry and [me]. In this day and age, there would be no reason not to talk about my relationship with Garry. If I were to do one, of course, there would be a lot about the two of us. Actually, I started to work on a part two to Sweet Life. I did it over the summer. My problem with my life is that I’m so f*ing boring! (laughs) I bored myself when I was writing about what happened over the last 20 years. I’ll take a stab at it again. (laughs)
Q: You played a key role in reviving the career of Dionne Warwick at a time when she wasn’t sure if she should continue singing. What was that like? A: People warned me that Dionne might be difficult to work with and that was the farthest thing from what happened. We had a ball making that record. It was a party every afternoon. It’s one of my favorite memories. She was in great voice that entire album, as you might be able to hear. On every song of that album she was hitting notes in her range that I didn’t know she had. It was a great, wonderful experience. If you talk to her about making that album, she will say the same thing. It was a great creative experience for the two of us.
Q: You first gained notoriety working with Bette Midler. What was it like performing live with The Divine Miss M and producing her music? A: Bette is one of the most talented human beings that we have on the planet. When she started off and I was her musical director and arranger and all, it was thrilling. I had started with her before she exploded. I had a small band that I had hired to back her up and we all knew, oh boy, this is big. This girl is going to go far. For the first year, we worked in small clubs in the middle of nowhere and the audiences would go crazy in the small clubs. We all knew that any minute that she was going to explode. And during the second year she exploded, and it was exactly what I expected. She did The Tonight Show and everything changed. She was on the cover of Newsweek magazine. It was a thrilling experience for me to be supporting this incredible talent and watching her become so well-respected and well-loved. It was a thrilling three or four years.
Q: Speaking of Bette, will you be seeing her in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway? A: I’m going into New York next week and I wish I could but they’ve got me booked from morning until night. But eventually I’ll probably wind up going to see it. I hear she’s just brilliant in it.
Q: Like you, Melissa Manchester is a phenomenal lyricist and vocalist and you’ve worked together several times over the years. Looking back on your time as friends and colleagues, what’s your favorite experience with Melissa? A: Well, we just finished doing a duet for her latest album. We just did it. She did an album that paid tribute to the great female singers from the past, and now she’s doing an album that’s paying tribute to the great male singers. She asked me if I’d do a duet with her and, of course, I said, “Yes” and we did it. She came to my studio and we sang together. I think it’s going to be a beautiful duet. We’re still friends and we’re still singing together. She’s great and one-of-a-kind. She’s one of the greatest voices ever.
Q: The Manilow Music Project is clearly something you hold very near and dear to your heart. What was the inspiration for starting this organization? A: One of my friends down here, years ago, told me that his daughter wanted to play the sax and the school didn’t have one. I said, “They don’t have one?” He said, “No. They’re running out of instruments and they didn’t have a sax for her.” I said, “They’re running out of instruments?! What the hell is that about?” When I looked into it I found, to my disappointment and horror, that most schools in the country are running out of instruments and more. The first thing they do is cut music and arts in high schools and middle schools all over the country. They don’t have music stands or sheet music to play from. All these music departments are running out of everything because they don’t have the money to do it. So, I came to the rescue to do my little part of it and I try to get instruments into the schools that are running out of them. When I was on the road for a long time, I’d donate a piano to a music program in every city I visited. Then I’d do an instrument drive and ask the audiences to bring down any instruments that they had in their attic or basement that was just collecting dust. They would do that and in every city we would collect about 100 instruments and we would divide them into schools that needed them. That was what I could do all those years on the road, and I’ll continue to do it whenever I can.
Q: You and Liza Minnelli are friends. How is she doing? A: From what I understand, she’s doing better than ever. Michael Feinstein has gotten her out to perform with him, and I think she’s doing better than ever. That’s what I hear.
Barry Manilow will be performing at The New Coliseum in Uniondale, NY on May 25. This is My Town: Songs of New York is available now. For more information, go to barrymanilow.com.
During the 65th annual BMI Pop Awards on Tuesday night, Barry Manilow received the BMI Icon Award, Ross Golan and Justin Tranter tied for songwriter of the year honors, Shawn Mendes’ hit “Stitches” was named song of the year, and Warner/Chappell Publishing Corp. was crowned publisher of the year.
But arguably one of the evening’s biggest takeaways was Tranter’s entreaty to the industry audience to foster more diversity within the songwriter ranks. “I’m an activist, so I can’t be near a microphone without doing some sort of activism,” he began. “Everyone in this room: Put more LGBTQ people in your sessions, please.” Amid loud cheering and applause, the openly gay songwriter added, “Also, Julia Michaels [his writing partner] is a Latina. Put more women and put more women of color in your sessions and do it now!”
Upon accepting his award, Manilow joined such previous BMI Icon honorees as Nile Rodgers, Stevie Nicks, Paul Simon and Carole King. In addition to charting such hits as “Mandy,” “Can’t Smile Without You” and “Looks Like We Made It,” the Grammy-, Emmy- and Tony Award-winning artist also penned memorable commercial jingles for McDonald’s, Band-Aid and Dr. Pepper, among other brands. He recently logged his 26th top 40-charting album on the Billboard 200 with This Is My Town: Songs of New York and made headlines for opening about being gay and his secret marriage to manager Garry Kief in 2014.
“I’m so honored to receive this award,” said Manilow, who also congratulated all the songwriters in the room. “Even though I love producing, arranging and performing, my heart is in composing music -- and you guys know what I’m talking about.”
BMI president/CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI VP of writer/publisher relations Barbara Cane hosted the pop awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The complete list of winners is available at BMI.com.
Life these days couldn’t be sweeter for Barry Manilow.... With five decades of music business success to his credit, he received the BMI Icon award Tuesday night in honor of that legacy, which boasts 85 million albums sold, 50 Top 40 singles, 12 No. 1 hits, and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, not to mention Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards. And he’s just released “This Is My Town: Songs of New York” (Decca), his 31st studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in April.
To paraphrase one of Manilow’s hits, when did he realize he had finally made it? “Last week!” Manilow says, chuckling. “I’m still working. I don’t think I’ve ever really felt that feeling that I finally made it.... I don’t think there has been a moment like that in my life because I’m always thinking about the next one. … I feel like I’ve made it when I sit at a piano and come up with a great chord change! That is as high as it gets for me. It starts and ends with the music. Not the fame or the legends, or awards. That’s great and I couldn’t be more grateful for it, but that’s not why I’m here. I never want to disappoint the fans. First and foremost, [my goal] is to give them work that they can be proud of. But most of all I want them to be proud of me as a human being. I’m very, very aware that there’s a lot of people who’ve been standing up for me and by me for years. And I never want to disappoint them, not only as a musician but most of all as a person. I’ve always tried to be a gentleman and a decent man [so] the people who’ve stood up for me can be proud of me.”
Never has Manilow felt the love and support of his fans more profoundly than the past few weeks after he very publicly acknowledged his 40-year relationship with his longtime manager, Garry Kief, who in 2014 became Manilow’s husband in a private ceremony at their Palm Springs estate. While news of the nuptials broke soon after the marriage, it wasn’t until April that Manilow publicly discussed being gay via a People magazine cover story.
Suggestions that he kept his sexuality a secret for decades are ridiculous, Manilow insists, since it was never really secret. “Nothing has changed from the day before [the article in People] to the day after,” the singer says emphatically. “It’s been my life for 40 years. Everybody has always known that Garry and I have always been a couple - my band, my crew, my family, my friends. And 90 percent of the fans knew, and it really is no big deal... I’m a 73-year-old guy, I’m not married to a woman and I love Judy Garland. You do the math... It’s just that these days it really is no big deal... For me, there’s never been anything wrong with it. I could not be prouder of being a gay man and having a beautiful life and a great partner for 40 years.”
That beautiful life and partnership has also included raising a daughter, Manilow happily confirms. “We have a daughter, Garry’s biological daughter, Kirsten, and we raised her together all these years. He was married with a 1-year-old daughter when we got together [Manilow was married briefly to his high school sweetheart, Susan Deixler, in the mid-1960s]. Kirsten’s turned out to be one of the most beautiful and smartest women you’ll ever meet. It’s so funny, not one interviewer over the years has asked me about my personal life,” Manilow continues. “Nobody from a record company ever brought it up and [yet] everybody knew. We went out to dinners and parties and nobody ever brought it up... There was one guy in the ’70s that was interviewing me and just nailed me [on it] and of course I lied because that’s what you had to do back in those days. No [other] interviewer has ever asked, and if they had I would have been proud to answer.”
“Back in those days” was the 1970s, Manilow says, when he feared coming out would erode his female-heavy fan base or possibly end his career. “It was very difficult to do that [back then], to have a conversation like we’re having, because it would have [resulted in] a very negative article... My fans have been so supportive, standing by me through all the bad reviews, the lousy shows. I couldn’t do that [to them] -- to have them stand up for me with this [revelation] during those times where it would have been terrible news.”
Manilow is hoping the love and support of his fans will translate into an appreciation of his new album, his love letter to New York -- from the tough Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood where he was born and raised, to the bright lights of Manhattan and Broadway, which would come to embrace him and his music. “After the pop singles stopped, which was with “Read ‘Em and Weep,’ the world of pop music started to change. It went from my kind of big ballads to the worlds of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. They stopped playing my records on the radio just as I was done with the world of pop radio. So it really wasn’t any choice. I had to figure out what to do if I was gonna continue to make records. And so I did the '[2:00 A.M.] Paradise Cafe' album. And every album after 1984 had a [concept] to it. So that led to ‘Swing Street.’ After that it was a tribute to the big bands. After that it was a tribute to Broadway with ‘Showstoppers.’ And [amid all of those] one idea always was to do a city album. I had different songs for different cities that meant a lot to me. New York was always the [top of the list]. It was always, ‘Some day I’ll do a New York album.’ This was the right time.”
The new album, co-produced with David Benson, features a combination of classics and Manilow originals, including a rarely done (but familiar to Manilow music fans) medley cut— all of them about his beloved New York. “When I started off making this album it was gonna be a little four-man combo jazz album,” Manilow says. “I started looking up the standards and I found there were a lot of standards written about New York. A lot of them were pop. So my idea of a little jazzy album went out the window. Then the whole album went wacky because there were a lot of different styles. There was the Broadway stuff, the jazz stuff, the R&B. And I was like, well, New York is a melting pot of different styles so [why not] an album having different styles of music?”
As always, Manilow went to work on the arrangements, his one true musical love (“I’ve never considered myself a singer”). “I always wanted to be Nelson Riddle,” he confesses. “When I was listening to the Beatles when I was younger I was really listening to George Martin, who was the guy who invented the string quartet behind ‘Eleanor Rigby.’ That’s the guy I wanted to be.”
The album’s lineup takes the listener on a journey through all of New York’s five boroughs, from a subway train ride to Coney Island to Manhattan to a virtual duet with the late Mel Torme on a rarely recorded song about a very famous bridge, using Torme’s “perfect arrangement.” “When I decided I would do [‘The Brooklyn Bridge’] I could not figure out any arrangement that would be any better than what Mel did. He was an arranger like me.”
As for his personal life, Manilow says it remains rock-solid, even though some would argue having one’s husband for a manager is not always a good idea. “That’s the miracle of this relationship. It’s a relationship built on respect, and we’ve never bumped heads about anything,” Manilow says. “Garry’s the smartest guy I’ve ever met. He’s a great manager. He takes care of my career on the business level and I take care of the music and we plan out what we’re want to do together.... [As for the People article] it’s about two guys who made it through 40 years... Maybe that will make people feel good. Maybe it will inspire some young people that they can do it, too. [Ours] has been a very positive love story... [Laughing] We’re still talking to each other!”
BARRY MANILOW -- When: 7:30 p.m. May 17. Where: Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim, Rosemont. Info/tickets: ticketmaster.com
Barry Manilow admits he didn't want to sing or perform when he started out. The music icon has had a career spanning more than 50 years with hits such as 'Mandy' and 'Copacabana' embedded in popular culture. But despite his incredible success, Manilow insists he only ever wanted to be a songwriter behind the scenes.
Speaking on UK TV show 'This Morning', the 73-year-old star said: "It was exciting when I started. I started just playing piano and I didn't want to sing or perform. I was always going to be in the background, composing or arranging, any of that. I went to school for that. It was the year of the singer/songwriter with people such as Carole King. I had made a demo of my songs hoping other people will sing them but I then got a record deal."
When he landed his first record deal, Manilow shared his happy news with his friend Bette Midler, whom he has worked with on a number of records, and she was shocked to hear he was going to put himself out there as an artist. He recalled: "Bette said, 'Doing what? You don't sing.' I got my first album. It was a big surprise for everyone."
Decades later the singer is still going strong and has just released his new album 'This Is My Town: Songs of New York' and although he doesn't want to tour any more he doesn't want to quit music. Manilow - who is performing three concerts at The O2 in London in September 2018 - said: "I don't want to stop. I will still be doing one nighters and maybe even coming back to London. I'm just getting off the road. It just got to me. I remember we finally got to another hotel in another city and I just said, 'I can't do this any more'. My fans are incredibly dedicated. I am going to meet them at record signings. I don't have an answer to what my fans [see] but I am happy they do."
Barry Manilow made it through the rain — and he couldn’t be happier! The pop legend and his longtime partner Garry Kief were outed after news of their secret wedding broke in 2015, and Manilow opened up about his marriage and sexuality for the first time in an exclusive PEOPLE cover story in April. Now, he’s discussing his last month of living out and proud since the story went viral.
“It’s turned out to be just great. I’ve really enjoyed it, most of all because the fans and the public have been so supportive. I thought, ‘Oh, man, I’m gonna get a lot of negative stuff.’ Not one negative letter, comment — anywhere,” Manilow said Tuesday at the BMI Pop Awards in L.A. “These people, these strangers — they care for me. Isn’t it odd? I’m just a musician who sings. And these people care about my happiness — and that’s what’s been going on. It’s been a beautiful, beautiful experience.”
At the event, Manilow, 73, was honored with the BMI Icon Award for his 50-year career in showbiz, during which he’s released pop classics (see: “Mandy,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” “Copacabana (at the Copa),” etc.) and famous jingles (for State Farm Insurance, Band-Aid and more). [Barry] released his latest album, This Is My Town, in April.
Warner/Chappell was named Publisher of the Year, Justin Tranter and Ross Golan were Songwriters of the Year, Shawn Mendes’ “Stitches” was Song of the Year, and Barry Manilow received the Icon Award at the 65th Annual BMI Pop Awards on Tuesday night. Warner/Chappell saw 17 of its songwriters’ tunes taking trophies.
The event, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, honors the most performed songs of the year and the writers behind them. Halsey, Rachel Platten, Andy Grammer and Charlie Puth were among the singer-songwriters on hand. “Last year BMI collected more royalties than any group, and we’re going to smash that record,” said BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill.
Yet the evening’s most attention-grabbing quote came when Tranter and Golan accepted their Songwriters of the Year awards, which the Tranter used as a platform to encourage greater diversity in writing rooms. “Tonight we’re honoring Barry Manilow,” who recently came out and revealed his marriage to business partner Garry Kief. “Put more LGBTQ people in your sessions, please. Also, [Tranter’s frequent collaborator] Julia Michaels is a Latina. Put more women, and more women of color, in your sessions, and do it now.”
Barry Manilow has said he is "truly honoured" to be handed an icon award at a celebration of pop songwriters. The Copacabana singer, 73, received the honour at the 65th Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) Pop Awards for his contribution to music with his songwriting through the generations. Accepting the award, Manilow said: "Even though I love producing, arranging and performing, my heart is in composing music and that’s why this award is so important to me. "I’m truly honoured for this award tonight." BMI president Mike O’Neill celebrated Manilow as a "consummate entertainer and world class songwriter" during the ceremony in Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. Previous recipients of the icon award have included Sting, Stevie Nicks, Nile Rodgers and Dolly Parton.
Singing legend Barry Manilow has said he is "truly honoured" to be handed an icon award at a celebration of pop songwriters. The singer, 73, received the honour at the 65th Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) Pop Awards for his contribution to music with his songwriting through the generations.
Accepting the award, Manilow said: "Even though I love producing, arranging and performing, my heart is in composing music and that's why this award is so important to me. "I'm truly honoured for this award tonight."
BMI president Mike O'Neill celebrated Manilow as a "consummate entertainer and world class songwriter" during the ceremony in Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
Grammy-, Tony-, and Emmy Award-winning pop superstar Barry Manilow will take to the stage at London's O2 Arena in celebration of his newest album, "This is My Town: Songs of New York," #1 on U.S. Pop Album Chart, for three special one-off shows on 6th/7th and 8th September 2018. Tickets and general information are available at www.manilow.com.
Manilow will perform his greatest hits like "Copacabana" and "Mandy" as well as songs from his new album. Do not miss the chance to hear the legend in person!
Barry Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every area of music, including performing, composing, arranging and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Manilow has triumphed in every medium of entertainment. With worldwide record sales exceeding 85 million, Barry Manilow is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with over 50 Top 40 hits.
Barry Manilow will play three consecutive nights at the O2 Arena in 2018. The legendary entertainer will perform at the London venue on September 6, 7 and 8, with tickets set to go on general sale at 9am on May 12.
Manilow released a new studio album, 'This Is My Town: Songs of New York', last month. Check out the title track below!
Pop legend Barry Manilow has announced that he will perform three dates at London’s O2 Arena in September 2018. The shows will take place on the 6th, 7th and 8th September 2018 and will be in support of Barry’s new album This Is My Town: Songs of New York. Fans can also expect Barry to perform a selection of his greatest hits such as "Copacabana" and "Mandy."
Over his career to date, Barry has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and sold more than 85 million records worldwide. He is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with over 50 Top 40 hits.
He famously sang “I write the songs that make the whole world sing”, and for more than 40 years his music has been the soundtrack to many of our lives. So, it seems fitting that Barry Manilow has now chosen to craft a love letter to the place that made him the man he is today. Barry’s new album "This Is My Town: Songs of New York" (out now on Decca) features songs about New York, the city he was born and raised in and where he began his incredible rise to fame.
When I meet him in a suite at a London hotel, he is kind, funny, honest and every bit the superstar I imagined him to be. He exudes the calm self-assurance of a man who has seen it all, done it all, and earned his place as a bona fide legend.
Our interview comes a couple of weeks after Barry, 73, spoke for the first time about being gay and talked about his 40-year relationship with his longtime manager Garry Kief, whom he married in 2014. The couple now live in California, but Barry’s still a New Yorker at heart. “I’ve lived in California longer than I was in New York, but when you’ve come from New York you are always a New Yorker. I talk fast, I walk fast, I think fast, and when I get back to New York I’m home. So this album was deeper than I thought it was going to be – I got emotional and had to stop the tape when we were recording the title song.”
I ask whether he feels New York played a part in his success and the man he has become. “Absolutely – New York and my family that comes from there. There’s an energy and there’s an honesty that people in New York have. You might call it blunt,” laughs Barry. “That was very valuable to me when I got out to Hollywood and the show business world. It was very valuable to have this capability of knowing who’s telling you the truth and who’s not. I came from a real bad neighbourhood; Williamsburg, Brooklyn. These days it’s one of the most expensive areas in all of New York, the apartments go for millions of dollars. The same apartments that my aunts and uncles lived in, the same place that the taxi drivers wouldn’t take me to it was so dangerous, now is the hippest and most expensive area in all of New York. But when I was there it was very dangerous,” laughs Barry.
He has certainly come a very long way. Barry is one of the world’s biggest selling artists, with more than 85 million albums sold worldwide and 50 Top 40 singles, as well as a shelf-full of awards.
Barry’s career started when he was 19. He composed The Drunkard, a musical that ran off-Broadway for eight years. He then became a pianist, producer and arranger, writing music for TV and commercials, a major break coming with his work as pianist, musical director and arranger for Bette Midler.
Record bosses seized on his incredible talent and singing voice and he released his debut album in 1973. Yet despite his amazing success, Barry doesn’t consider himself a natural performer. “I never wanted to be a performer; I wanted to be a musician and if I were lucky I would be a composer or an arranger or a conductor. I went to school for that and that’s what I did for the first 10 years. I accompanied singers, I arranged music for them, I went on the road with them. So when I began to make records, it was crazy. But it was successful, so I wound up standing on a stage trying to figure out what to do and how to hold a microphone and how to talk to these people. That was kind of strange. I’m more of a musician and an arranger than I am a performer. I figured out how to do the job on the stage but I love producing my show or other people’s shows, or creating things. The standing up on stage and singing – that’s the hardest thing for me to do.”
He also found adapting to fame a challenge. “When it hit me I was 29 years old. It nearly knocked me down. It knocked me over but it didn’t knock me down. I was shocked and terrified. I didn’t know what was happening. The only thing that saved me was looking around one afternoon and everybody around me were people I was paying. My publicist, my agent, my assistant, the guy that was cooking for me. I said, ‘Where did my life go? Where are my friends? Where was my family?’. There was nobody there. There were all these people and I was paying them. They were nice people and they had turned into family and friends, but it was different, they treated me differently than my friends and family would have because I was Barry Manilow – in capital letters. I was (working too much), I hadn’t been home for a while, they didn’t know when I would call them, they didn’t know where I was. So I had to go back and reconnect with my roots and things got better after that, but there was a moment there, jeez, that really threw me.”
Barry admits that therapy has played a huge part throughout his life. “I love therapy, everybody should do that. You guys over here make fun of it, but that’s why you’re all crazy,” says Barry, bursting into laughter. “It’ll change your life for the better. Open up doors that you were afraid to open up, but when you do you’ll find out who you really are and what you really want. I went to therapy even before that fame thing happened but I went because I knew that I needed to talk to somebody about stuff, even when I was younger.”
Which leads me to the question, why has he chosen now to talk about his sexuality? “I knew that my fans would be fine with it, because they have always wanted me happy. I’ve had nothing but positive response and I would not expect anything less than that”.
Barry’s says his desire for stability has led him to reduce his live performances. “I’ve stopped touring. I was touring for 40-somewhat years and that was enough for me. But I will do one-nighters. They’re easy for me. I go to New York, I do the show, I go home. Then I go to Chicago about five days later and I go home. That I can do, but going away on tour from city to city to city and being away from home for weeks at a time – I’ve done that, it’s too hard.”
The singer did a stint as a mentor in the US on American Idol. His advice to new stars is, “They’ve gotta do the work.” And if they do, perhaps they could have a 40-year music career too. So what’s the secret to Barry’s success? “I was just lucky. I don’t know. It shouldn’t have happened. They told me that if I was lucky I would have five years and I’m still here,” he laughs.
Legendary Grammy Award winner, Barry Manilow, has sold over 85 million albums world-wide and is back with his 30th studio album. Barry joined Lorraine in an exclusive ITV Daytime interview and spoke about the longevity of his career and that he owes everything to his fans. He said: "I have amazing fans, I wouldn't be here without them."
Since his debut album release in the 1970's, Barry's songs have spanned generations with the likes of Take That and Westlife having hits with Barry covers. Barry joked: "When I started off in the 1800s..."
Barry was always reluctant to take centre stage, having worked comfortably outside of the spotlight for many years. He goes as far to suggest that he wasn't very good when he first started out but that his fans have been there with him every step of the way.
A famously private man, Barry recently confirmed his sexuality and marriage to his long-term partner Garry and was overjoyed with the positive response from his fans. They really celebrated his married and were 'so supportive' but, as Barry says himself, "it wouldn't have been any other way.
Barry's new album, This Is My Town: Songs of New York is Barry's love letter to the amazing city that he calls home. He says that even though he wasn't born there, he's a true New Yorker at heart.
Although Barry is no longer touring, joking that '40 somewhat years of room service' has taken it's toll, he did add fuel to the rumour that he may possibly be coming to 'Britain in September next year' as well as four 'big nights' in the USA. Let's hope so!
He may be a music legend, but there’s one thing Barry Manilow hasn’t done in a while – a UK signing. Until now.
The Mandy singer will be signing copies of his new album , This Is My Town: Songs of New York, at HMV on Oxford Street on April 26, and the event will be his only UK signing this year, and his first in over a decade.
According to legend Barry: "The album is like a melting pot – just like New York is. We take you from Brooklyn to Broadway to Birdland. We even wind up in Coney Island. Take a look at the titles and it really does look like you’re going from place to place to place. There are different styles. There’s pop, there’s a little rock and roll, there’s jazz, there’s a little R&B, and Broadway. That’s what I think of when I think of my home town and of New York."
To meet Barry at the signing in London, fans will have to buy a copy of the album; 400 online tickets – one per person – will be available via hmv.com. For more information, click here.
In 1976, just as his career as a pop superstar was taking off, Barry Manilow moved into an apartment in the San Remo on Central Park West. His neighbor was Broadway’s Fred Ebb, the lyricist who, with composer John Kander, wrote “Cabaret” and “Chicago.” Through the wall in one of his bathrooms, Manilow could hear Kander and Ebb banging out a new song on the piano. One day, a riff Kander was playing caught his attention. “Listen to this,” Manilow said to a friend. “I think they’re writing something, and it sounds pretty good.” What they were writing was “New York, New York,” which, recorded by Frank Sinatra, would become the enduring anthem of the Big Apple.
Manilow gives the song his own swinging flourish on his new album, “This Is My Town: Songs of New York,” out Friday from Verve Records. Born and raised in Brooklyn, the former Barry Pincus, now 73, assembled and arranged the collection as a tribute to his hometown.
Not all are as famous as “New York, New York.” A haunting rendition of “Lonely Town,” from Leonard Bernstein’s 1944 musical “On the Town,” stands out, as does a silky, sultry arrangement of “Lovin’ at Birdland.” “My instinct is not to go commercial,” says Manilow, who to date has sold 80 million records worldwide.
“I developed a taste for the off-center stuff when I played piano in cabarets in New York in the early ’70s,” he tells The Post. “The good singers never sang what everybody else was doing on TV or radio. They’d find these cockamamie songs from some Broadway show that didn’t make it and then just crawl into the lyric. I cannot spot a hit song even if I write it,” he adds. “That is not my strength at all. I think the only song I heard that I knew would be a hit was ‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ -- and who couldn’t pick that one?”
“What you have to understand about Barry,” says a longtime friend, “is that he’s the guy at the piano who looks after the singer. He loves composing. He loves arranging. The fact that he become a superstar surprised him as much as anyone.”
Says Manilow: “I’m not that great a piano player, but I’m a really good accompanist. I can be a one-man band for a singer.”
His early and now-legendary partnership was with Bette Midler at the Continental Baths in the Ansonia Hotel. Midler heard about him through friends in the cabaret world, and asked him to back her up. “She was loud, she was brash, she was Bette,” says Manilow. “But I didn’t understand her talent in rehearsals. She walked through every song. It wasn’t great. And then this hurricane came out of the dressing room and all these guys sitting around in towels at the baths went nuts.”
Manilow became a star in his own right when record producer Clive Davis signed him for a new company called Arista Records in 1974. Davis debuted a documentary about his life, “Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives,” Wednesday night at Radio City Music Hall. Manilow kicked off a post-screening concert featuring a slew of Davis superstars: Dionne Warwick, Carly Simon, Kenny G. and Aretha Franklin, among others.
But Manilow’s early years at Arista were rocky. “Clive and I fought all the time,” says Manilow. “I was a songwriter and he kept shtupping me with other people’s material. All he cared about was the hit. He kept giving me these terrible demos -- ‘I Write the Songs,’ ‘Can’t Smile Without You’ -- and I could not see the value in them at all. The only reason we stayed together was that I was a producer and arranger and he would let me make the songs my own. So I listened to that terrible demo of ‘I Write the Songs’ until I figured out it was an anthem, an anthem to the spirit of music, and that’s how I arranged it.”
“I Write the Songs” went to No. 1, as did “Mandy,” “Looks Like We Made It” and “Even Now.” There were a dozen No. 1 hits in all, plus 27 that appeared in the top 10 on various Billboard charts. The last hit was 1983’s “Read ’em and Weep.” And then Manilow told Davis, “I’m done. I don’t know what else to do in the pop music world. I’ve used every arranger’s trick in the trade.”
R&B had come in, making stars of Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson. Manilow’s top 40 era was over. “I’d been around so long, there was a backlash,” he says. “It wasn’t fun, but I can’t say it was the dark night of soul. I was ready for something else.” Manilow then made an album of torch songs, “2:00 AM Paradise Café,” dueting with Mel Tormé and Sarah Vaughan. Since then, he’s released a batch of acclaimed, if not No. 1, albums featuring show tunes, big band hits, Sinatra covers.
He can still sell out a 20,000-seat stadium, and while he tries to slip in some of his more obscure or arty songs, “I can’t do it very often or I lose the audience,” he says. “They want the songs they grew up with, the ones I did with Clive. They never tire of them. They sing them louder than I do.”
Barry Manilow was welcomed with enthusiastic cheers on Tuesday night, as he took the stage at New York City’s Town Hall for the Concert for America: Stand Up, Sing Out!
Performing at the monthly event -- which raises money for national organizations dedicated to protecting civil rights, women’s health and environmental protection -- Manilow appeared grateful.
"I’m so happy to be home. I’m a New Yorker, I’m from Williamsburg, Brooklyn." Manilow told the enthusiastic crowd as he took the stage to a standing ovation. "I’m here to promote an album, my love letter to New York. So this week I’m a media slut. I’m all over the place. I’m so happy to be here. There’s no place like New York."
Before performing "One Voice," he explained to the audience, "I wrote this in a dream. I don’t know how that happens. I wrote it in a dream and ran to the cassette machine. And I sang it through and the next morning, there it was."
Manilow performed three different times during the show, about 30 minutes in total. He introduced "Mandy" by joking to the crowd, "This was the very first one that was so successful. We released it in 1821."
He also performed a medley that included "Can’t Smile Without You," "Copacabana," "Even Now," "Weekend in New England," "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "It’s a Miracle," "I Made It Through the Rain," "Daybreak," and "I Write the Songs." Manilow surprised the crowd by coming out at the end of the show and performing a final medley of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "Let Freedom Ring."
