Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow: biography

Barry Manilow, a legendary singer from the United States, has released more than 30 albums in his career and has earned about 15 awards for his outstanding talent and dedication. Although nowadays he is not very active musician because of health problems, his creativity has raised several generations and he is absolutely not to be forgotten in future.

Childhood and youth

Barry was born to the family of Harold Pincus and Edna Manilow. Speaking about his nationality, he has Irish, American, and Jewish roots.

1961 was marked by Manilow's graduation. While at college, he combined studying with working.

That time, Bro Herrod, CBS' director, referred to Barry to create songs for a musically adapted drama The Drunkard. So, Manilow created an entire score which happened to be a real hit.

Career

In 1967 Barry Manilow was hired as a musical director of the CBS network TV program. Shortly after he started creating several famous jingles for commercials for such brands as 'Band-Aid' and 'Dr. Pepper'.

At the beginning of the 1970s, he helped Bette Midler on releasing the songs 'The Divine Miss M' and 'Bette Midler.'

1973 was marked by the presentation of Manilow's first collection entitled 'Barry Manilow.' Two years later, he made remixes of its tracks and released a new version of the album 'Barry Manilow II.'

1975 and 1976 brought him his 3rd and 4th collections 'Tryin' to Get the Feeling' and 'This One's For You.'

At the end of the 1970s, Barry Manilow served as an actor and a producer of 4 TV programs shown on the ABC Network. One of the shows was named 'The Barry Manilow Special' – it was seen by several millions of viewers.

In 1978 fans could listen to Manilow's fifth studio collection 'Even Now.' It was named platinum three times. Shortly after, the musician released 'Manilow Magic- the Best of Barry Manilow' ('Greatest Hits').

Singer's track entitled 'Ready to Take a Chance Again' was used by the picture Foul Play premiered in 1978.

In 1979 Manilow worked as a producer of the collection 'Dionne' by Dionne Warwick. Besides, he published a new track under the name 'Ships' – it was included in the upcoming collection 'One Voice.'

The following year, he arranged a sold-out concert held at the Wembley Stadium, England and performed there in a duet with Elton John. Besides singing his old tracks, he introduced a new self-titled collection. One year later, Manilow's fans checked out his new track 'If I Should Love Again.'

In 1982, while performing at his concert (all the tickets were also sold out) held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Barry recorded his singing to release a live album. It got the name 'Barry Live in Britain' and happened to be of immense success in the United States receiving platinum status.

As for his following projects, in 1984 Barry Manilow recorded the collection '2:00 AM Paradise Café'. 1985 brought him the album 'Manilow.' Besides, while recording the collections, the celebrity appeared in the CBS program Copacabana playing Tony Star.

Apart from making music and starring in TV programs, the star has tried out writing. So, he is an author of the 1987 book 'Sweet Life: Adventures on the Way to Paradise' – then Manilow about his way to success.

In 1987 he was signed to a record company and published the collection 'Swing Street' under their guidance.

Two years later, the singer added his sixth self-titled collection including such songs as 'Keep Each Other Warm', 'Mandy', 'Every Single Day' and 'Please Don't Be Scared.'

As a promotion of his recent works, Manilow arranged near 50 concerts held at the Gershwin Theatre. In 1990 the star created his debut Christmas album, 'Because It's Christmas.'

In 1991 he began releasing a string of 'event' collections such as 'Summer of '78' and others. Meanwhile, he was a co-writer of the soundtracks for Broadway musicals, including 'Thumbelina' and 'The Pebble and the Penguin.'

In 2000 his concert was shown on DirectTV as 'Manilow Live!'. In 2001 he presented one more concept collection entitled 'Here at the Mayflower'.

Around that time, Manilow's concert held at Hilton hotel was broadcasted on PBS as 'Barry Manilow: Music and Passion.' 2007 brought the musician another collection named 'Barry Manilow: Songs from the Seventies,' and 2010 was marked by 'The Greatest Love Songs of all Time.'

In 2011 Barry Manilow served as a host of They Write the Songs, BBC documentary show.

In 2013 he was seen starring at the Children in Need Rocks.

In 2014 Manilow's fans could listen to his new, unusual album named 'Night Songs' – it included standards made only with piano and acoustic bass.

At the beginning of 2015, the celebrity embarked on One Last Time! Tour.

Manilow’s net worth is evaluated at $100 million.

In media

There was a controversy about a relationship between Barry Manilow and Robin Byrd. One of the American magazines published an article claiming the two had an affair. As a result, the celebrity was invited to The Tonight Show where revealed he had nothing but a friendship with Byrd.

Personal life

Speaking about Barry Manilow's relationships, he has an ex-wife - Susan Deixler. They got acquainted studying at school and tied the knot in 1964. In his future admissions, the musician said his music career influenced their family. His regular tours, recordings, millions of female fans of Susan’s husband didn't let the spouses spend enough time with each other, and they decided to part ways. So, their marriage ended up in divorce in 1966.

In 1978 Manilow began dating Garry Kief. They officially married in 2014. Before the wedding ceremony, the two had never revealed their alliance. Both the partners are very private and prefer to keep their personal life in secret. In an interview, Manilow said he had hidden such an important part of his life out of a public eye to avoid disappointing his female fans. However, they supported Barry as soon as they knew the truth.

The celebrity has no children.

Discography

• Manilow Sings Sinatra (1998)
• A Christmas Gift of Love (2002)
• Scores (2004)
• In the Swing of Christmas (2007)
• 15 Minutes (2011)
• Night Songs (2014)
• My Dream Duets (2014)

Awards

• Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist (1978)
• Best Pop Male Vocal Performance (1978)
• Songwriter's Hall of Fame (2002)