Barry Manilow

**Barry Manilow** (born **Barry Alan Pincus**; June 17, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, actor and musician.  Early in his career, he started by writing commercial jingles for major companies. He is best known for songs such as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana (At the Copa)".

## Personal life

Manilow was born in Brooklyn, New York City.

Manilow officially came out as gay in April 2017, telling _People_ that he had kept his sexual orientation quiet out of concern that it would disappoint his largely female fan base, but when his fans learned of the marriage, they were supportive.

On December 22, 2025, Manilow announced a diagnosis of early stage lung cancer, for which he would undergo surgery.

## Studio albums

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2" width="300"|Album details|colspan="2"|Chart positions|rowspan="2" width="100"|Sales|rowspan="2" width="150"|Certifications <small>(sales thresholds)</small>|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1973|align="left"|_Barry Manilow_ *<small>Released: July 7, 1973</small> *<small>Label: Bell / Arista (Re-release)</small>|28|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum||
|1974|align="left"|_Barry Manilow II_ *<small>Released: October 1974</small> *<small>Label: Bell / Arista (Re-release)</small>|9|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: 2× Platinum||
|1975|align="left"|_Tryin' to Get the Feeling_ *<small>Released: October 1975</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|5|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: 3× Platinum *CAN: Gold||
|1976|align="left"|_This One's for You_ *<small>Released: August 1976</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|6|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: 3× Platinum *CAN: Gold||
|1978|align="left"|_Even Now_ *<small>Released: February 1978</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|3|12|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: 3× Platinum *UK: Silver||
|1979|align="left"|_One Voice_ *<small>Released: September 25, 1979</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|9|18|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: 2× Platinum *UK: Gold *CAN: Platinum||
|1980|align="left"|_Barry_ *<small>Released: November 19, 1980</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|15|5|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum *UK: Platinum *CAN: Gold||
|1981|align="left"|_If I Should Love Again_ *<small>Released: September 1981</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|14|5|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum *UK: Platinum||
|1982|align="left"|_Here Comes the Night_ *<small>Released: November 1982</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|32|7|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum *UK: Platinum||
|1984|align="left"|_2:00 AM Paradise Cafe_ *<small>Released: November 15, 1984</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|28|40|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum *UK: Silver||
|1985|align="left"|_Manilow_ *<small>Released: 1985</small> *<small>Label: RCA</small>|42|40|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|||
|1987|align="left"|_Swing Street_ *<small>Released: 1987</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|70|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold||
|1989|align="left"|_Barry Manilow_ *<small>Released: May 2, 1989</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|64|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold *UK: Silver||
|1990|align="left"|_Because It's Christmas_ *<small>Release: September 25, 1990</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|40|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum||
|1991|align="left"|_Showstoppers_ *<small>Released: September 24, 1991</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|68|53|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|||
|1994|align="left"|_Singin' with the Big Bands_ *<small>Released: October 11, 1994</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|59|54|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold||
|1996|align="left"|_Summer of '78_ *<small>Released: November 19, 1996</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|82|66|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold||
|1998|align="left"|_Manilow Sings Sinatra_ *<small>Released: November 10, 1998</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|122|72|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|||
|2001|align="left"|_Here at the Mayflower_ *<small>Released: November 13, 2001</small> *<small>Label: Concord</small>|90|18|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|||
|2002|align="left"|_A Christmas Gift of Love_ *<small>Released: November 12, 2002</small> *<small>Label: Concord Jazz / Columbia</small>|55|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold||
|2004|align="left"|_Scores_ *<small>Released: September 28, 2004</small> *<small>Label: Concord</small>|47|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|||
|rowspan="2"|2006|align="left"|_The Greatest Songs of the Fifties_ *<small>Released: January 31, 2006</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|1|12|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Platinum *UK: Gold *CAN: Gold|
|align="left"|_The Greatest Songs of the Sixties_ *<small>Released: October 31, 2006</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|2|56|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold *UK: Gold|||
|rowspan="2"|2007|align="left"|_The Greatest Songs of the Seventies_ *<small>Released: September 17, 2007</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|4|27|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold|
|align="left"|_In the Swing of Christmas_ *<small>Released: November 26, 2007</small> *<small>Label: Arista / Hallmark</small>|127|—|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold|||
|2008|align="left"|_The Greatest Songs of the Eighties_ *<small>Released: November 21, 2008</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|14|22|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold||
|2010|align="left"|_The Greatest Love Songs of all Time_ *<small>Released: January 22, 2010</small> *<small>Label: Arista</small>|5|26|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|*US: Gold||
|2011|align="left"|_15 Minutes_ *<small>Released: June 14, 2011</small> *<small>Label: STILETTO / Fontana (US) Rhino (UK)</small>|7|20|style="text-align:left;"||style="text-align:left;"|||
|colspan="11" style="font-size:90%"|"—" means releases that did not chart.|||||||||

## Awards

- 1977 Emmy for Outstanding Special – Comedy, Variety or Music – _The Barry Manilow Special_
- 1977 Special Tony Award – _Barry Manilow on Broadway_
- 1978 American Music Awards – Best Pop/Rock Male Artist
- 1979 Grammy – Copacabana Best Pop Male Vocal Performance
- 1979 American Music Awards – Best Pop/Rock Male Artist
- 1980 American Music Awards – Best Pop/Rock Male Artist
- 2002 Songwriter's Hall of Fame
- 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program – _Barry Manilow: Music And Passion_
- 2007 RIAA – Plaque commemorating worldwide record sales of 75 million
- 2009 Clio Awards Honorary award for prior work with commercial jingles

## Selected TV and movie appearances

- _Donny & Marie_ in 1977.
- ABC special _The Stars Salute Israel At 30_ on May 8, 1978.
- May 8, 1982, _Goldie & Kids_ a special where he acted in skits and sang "One Voice" and "I Am Your Child" with hostess Goldie Hawn.
- In 1985 Barry wrote and starred in the Television movie Copacabana (musical), which was inspired by his 1978 song Copacabana.
- On September 17, 1987, he was in the star-studded CBS special _We The People 200: The Constitutional Gala_ taped at the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to debut his song "Let Freedom Ring".
- On May 17, 1989, made first of eight appearances as a guest on The Arsenio Hall Show over five years.
- On May 17, 1993, Manilow made a guest appearance on the CBS show _Murphy Brown_. On the show, Candice Bergen's character often said she doesn't like Manilow's music. After she became a mother, Manilow appeared to sing her a sweet version of his tune "I Am Your Child", winning her over with the song about a parent's bond with a child. Later that year he was in England on _Surprise! Surprise!_ with Cilla Black where he performed the new single he had recorded with Cilla of "You'll Never Walk Alone".
- Guest appearance in a 2001 episode of _Ally McBeal_. He played both a hallucination of Ally's and himself on stage at the end of the show.
- Played himself in a cameo in the 2002 dark comedy _Unconditional Love_ starring Kathy Bates and Rupert Everett where "Can't Smile Without You" also played a key role in the plot.
- On December 11, 2003, Manilow was on the NBC show _Will & Grace_ as himself backstage between tour stops. The name of the episode is "Fanilow" as in "a fan of Manilow".
- On April 20–21, 2004, Manilow got back together with Debra Byrd.  She was his backup singer and was a vocal coach at _American Idol_. He was a guest judge for season three.  The contestants sang his songs as the theme for the week.
- On December 8, 2004, he was a guest on the NBC special _A Clay Aiken Christmas_, hosted by the former _Idol_ runner-up.
- On March 21–22, 2006, Manilow returned to _American Idol_ in season five. 1950s music was the theme. He again helped the top eleven finalists to fine tune their performances and again sang on the results show.
- In November 2006, he was on Logo's reality show _Jacob and Joshua: Nemesis Rising_ as himself in Las Vegas for a recording session with the twins.
- On November 23, 2006, Manilow was live on a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  He sang the song "What the World Needs Now" on the television broadcast of the parade.
- On December 2, 2006, Manilow was the celebrity guest and theme for the week on _The X Factor_.
- On December 12, 2006, he was live at the 2006 Royal Variety Performance and performed a selection from his latest album.
- _The Tonight Show with Jay Leno_ on October 31, 2007, on November 17, 2008, and on July 12, 2011.
- He guest starred on _Family Guy_ in "Back to the Woods" on February 17, 2008
- On December 4, 2008, he was the main guest on UK's _The Graham Norton Show_.
- He guest starred on _Strictly Come Dancing_ on December 7, 2008
- Barry narrated and wrote original music for the Ocean Spray Christmas special "Cranberry Christmas".
- He was a guest on _Friday Night with Jonathan Ross_ (UK) on September 11, 2009.
- On October 2, 2009, he was on BBC Radio 4's _Desert Island Discs_.
- He was a guest on _The Jay Leno Show_ (US) on December 10, 2009.
- He was a guest on _The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien_ (US) on January 21, 2010. He mentioned that, before he became famous, he wrote advertising jingles, including two well-known jingles for Band-Aid and State Farm. Also, he commented on his diet of "forgetting to eat".
- On February 6, 2010, he was a guest on _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ where Jimmy showed a photo of him in the 1970s and discussed his new album.
- On December 11, 2010, he ended the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway singing four of his most known and popular songs. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
- On June 15, 2011, he was on "Good Morning America" performing his new album, "Fifteen Minutes".
- On June 23, 2011, he was on CNN's _Piers Morgan Tonight_.
- On June 24, 2011, he was on the UK's _Paul O'Grady Live_.
- On October 28, 2011, he was the star of the UK's show _An Audience With..._ Barry Manilow.
- On December 11, 2011, he was on ITV's _Text Santa_: The Launch
- On December 14, 2011, he was on the Royal Variety Show on ITV.

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Barry Manilow
- **img**: BarryManilow.jpg
- **caption**: Manilow live in 2008 at the Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota.
- **birth name**: Barry Alan Pincus
- **birth place**: Brooklyn, New York City, United States, U.S.
- **background**: solo_singer
- **genre**: Pop music, Pop, soft rock
- **occupation**: Singer-songwriter, Film Actor,  Theatrical producer, producer
- **years active**: 1973–present
- **instrument**: Vocals, keyboards, accordion
- **associated acts**: Bette Midler