Barry Manilow

For other uses, see Barry Manilow (disambiguation).
"Manilow" redirects here. For the 1985 album, see Manilow (album).

Barry Manilow
Manilow in 2019
Manilow in 2019
Background information
Birth nameBarry Alan Pincus
Born (1943-06-17) June 17, 1943 (age 81)
New York City, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
Years active1964–present
Labels
Spouses
  • Susan Deixler
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1964; ann. 1966)​
  • Garry Kief
    ​
    (m. 2014)​
Websitebarrymanilow.com

Barry Manilow (/ˈmænɪloʊ/ MAN-il-oh; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans six decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Can't Smile Without You", "Weekend in New England", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)".

Manilow has recorded and released 51 Top 40 singles on the Adult Contemporary Chart, including 13 that hit number one, 28 that appeared within the top ten, and 36 that reached the top twenty. Manilow has released 13 platinum and six multi-platinum albums.[2] Although not a favorite artist of music critics,[3] Manilow has been praised by his peers in the recording industry. In the 1970s, Frank Sinatra predicted: "He's next."[4]

As well as producing and arranging albums for himself and other artists, Manilow has written and performed songs for musicals, films, and commercials for corporations such as McDonald's, Pepsi Cola, and Band-Aid. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award (winning once) as a producer, arranger and performer a total of fifteen times (and in every decade) from 1973 to 2015.[5] He has also produced Grammy-nominated albums for Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, and Sarah Vaughan.[6] Manilow has sold more than 85 million records as a solo artist worldwide, making him one of the world's bestselling artists.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ S. Victor Aaron (April 19, 2012). "One Track Mind: Barry Manilow, "Bandstand Boogie" (1975) | Something Else!". SomethingElseReviews.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  2. ^ Lynch, John (November 25, 2018). "The 50 best-selling music artists of all time, ranked by platinum albums". Business Insider.
  3. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (August 5, 2019). "Barry Manilow Just Wanted to Write the Songs. He's Still Singing Them". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2024. He was not just knocked but pilloried by music critics, including those at The New York Times, who wrote him off as schlock
  4. ^ Bardin, Brantley (December 1, 2015). "Mr. Generosity". Palm Springs Life. Palm Springs, California. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  5. ^ "Search Results for barry manilow". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
  6. ^ Media, Varela. "Barry Manilow Receives 15th Grammy Nomination for MY DREAM DUETS" (Press release). PR Newswire.
  7. ^ "Barry Manilow Broadway comeback hit by bronchitis". BBC News. January 25, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  8. ^ "Hipgnosis acquires recording royalties for Barry Manilow catalog". Music Business Worldwide. August 3, 2020.
  9. ^ "Hipgnosis Songs acquires Barry Manilow catalogue". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved September 26, 2024.