Barry Manilow was born on September 12, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 3 he began taking piano lessons under the guidance of his mother, who was a professional pianist. His first public performance took place at the age of 10 when he played "How High the Moon" for his graduating class at school. He received a scholarship to attend Manhattan School of Music and began performing as a singer and guitarist with other groups in New York City nightclubs, as well as with rock and roll acts such as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
In 1963 he made his national television debut on the Perry Como show, but it was not until 1964 that he achieved his first major success as a pop singer. He gained instant fame with two popular songs: "Can't Smile Without You" and "Leader of the Pack". By 1969, Manilow had released four albums that reached No.
1 on the Billboard album charts. His string of hit records continued into the 1980s and 1990s, including "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Copacabana (At the Copa)", and "Looks Like We Made It". Manilow's Greatest Hits album is one of the best-selling compilation albums in music history, having sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
The song "Mandy" spent 31 weeks atop Billboard's Hot 100 chart and was also nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2002, Manilow received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame and in 2005 he received an honorary lifetime achievement award from ASCAP. He has written five books: The Power of Positive Thinking (1952), The Greatest Salesman in the World (1952), The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (1953), Self-Made Genius (1968), and Think and Grow Rich (1958).
For a Jewish guy, I've recorded a lot of Christmas albums.Barry Manilow
First of all, I've been having a wonderful run of luck with cover albums, songs I didn't write. I had five pop cover albums and two Christmas albums, and they were all very successful.Barry Manilow
You say something stupid and the next morning you're in the headlines.Barry Manilow
