Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow married his high-school sweetheart, Susan Deixler, in 1964. The marriage was annulled in 1966 after a short period. Manilow later said that his pursuit of a music career and lack of maturity strained the relationship.

In 1978, Manilow began a relationship with television executive Garry Kief, who later became his manager. They married in 2014, and Manilow publicly came out as gay in 2017. He has a stepdaughter through Kief's previous marriage and an adopted granddaughter.

Manilow studied at the New York College of Music and Juilliard after briefly attending City College of New York. He worked at CBS while studying, eventually becoming a music director for the network's local television affiliate. He composed an original score for the Off-Broadway production The Drunkard, which ran for eight years at New York's 13th Street Repertory Theatre.

During the 1960s, Manilow wrote, arranged, and performed advertising jingles. His work included the music for State Farm's "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" and Band-Aid's "I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me!" He also sang in commercials for McDonald's, Pepsi, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Dr Pepper. He received an Honorary Clio in 2009 for his work in advertising.

Manilow's debut album, Barry Manilow, was released in 1973. His breakthrough came with Barry Manilow II and its lead single, "Mandy," which reached the top of the Billboard singles chart. A run of successful albums followed, including Tryin' to Get the Feeling, This One's for You, Even Now, and One Voice.

His best-known recordings include "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You," "Weekend in New England," "Ready to Take a Chance Again," and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." Although he was a songwriter and arranger, some of his major hits were written by other composers. Bruce Johnston wrote "I Write the Songs," while "Mandy" was written by Scott English and Richard Kerr.

Manilow also worked closely with Bette Midler, serving as her pianist, musical director, and producer from 1971 to 1975. He coproduced her first two albums, The Divine Miss M and Bette Midler. His friendship and professional association with Dick Clark led to repeated appearances on American Bandstand, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and other Clark productions.

Manilow presented a series of television specials beginning with The Barry Manilow Special in 1977. That program won an Emmy Award, and his 2006 special Barry Manilow: Music and Passion earned him another Emmy for individual performance. His 1976-77 Broadway concert also received a Special Tony Award and produced the live album Barry Manilow Live.

In 1985, Manilow starred as Tony Starr in the CBS musical film Copacabana, based on his song of the same name. He wrote the film's songs with lyrics by Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman. He later composed music for the animated films Thumbelina and The Pebble and the Penguin.

Manilow and Bruce Sussman cowrote Harmony: A New Musical, based on the Comedian Harmonists. The musical was first performed at La Jolla Playhouse in 1997 and later received productions in Atlanta and Los Angeles before making its New York and Broadway runs.

Manilow moved toward jazz and pre-rock standards with the 1984 album 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe, which featured Sarah Vaughan and Gerry Mulligan. He continued exploring that style through albums such as Swing Street, Showstoppers, and Singin' with the Big Bands. His later projects included Night Songs, Night Songs II, The Greatest Songs of the Fifties, and My Dream Duets.

His 2006 album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties became his first number-one album on the Billboard 200. He also maintained a major live presence, including a Las Vegas Hilton residency from 2005 to 2009 that ended after 300 performances. Later Las Vegas engagements included Manilow Paris Las Vegas and The Hits Come Home.