Barry Manilow has made a name for himself as an incredibly successful singer and entertainer, putting him in the same ranks as greats like Frank Sinatra. He has sold over 75 million albums in his career and continues to sell out venues today. He is known as much for his skill as a showman as his ability to sing and write amazing songs, making him an easy fan favorite.Barry Alan Pincus was born on June 16, 1942 to Edna and Harold Pincus. His father left when he was only two, which led to Barry later taking his mother's maiden name, Manilow. He lived with his mother and her parents in Brooklyn as a child and began playing both the accordion and the piano at an early age. After high school, he was accepted to the famous Julliard School of Music. To pay his way, he earned money by working in the mail room at CBS. He soon was the musical director for CBS's Callback, and also wrote commercial jingles for clients like Dr. Pepper, State Farm, McDonald's and KFC.Bette Midler hired Manilow as her pianist, arranger and musical director in 1971. He worked with Midler on a few of her albums and a tour before recording his own album Barry Manilow I with Bell Records. It was not a commercial success. Bell turned into Arista and soon he was being pressured by label exec Clive Davis to record a pop song, "Brandy." Manilow initially didn't want to do it, but he turned it into a ballad and recorded his hit "Mandy," which came out on his album Barry Manilow II in 1974. He followed it up with hits like "It's a Miracle," "Could It be Magic" and "I Write the Songs."During the 1970s and into the ‘80s, Manilow could hardly do wrong when it came to music and he released hit after hit. Manilow performed at the pre-game show of the Super Bowl in 2002. He released decade albums that did fairly well recently with The Greatest Songs of the Fifties, The Greatest Songs of the Sixties and The Greatest Songs of the Seventies. Manilow has also been the recipient of many awards including Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. He has re-teamed up with old friends Bette Midler and Clive Davis after his initial success.
