Barry Manilow ( MAN-il-oh; born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career spanning over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Ready to Take a Chance Again", "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. He has released 13 platinum and six multi-platinum albums. Although not a favorite artist of music critics, Manilow has been praised by his peers in the recording industry. In the 1970s, Frank Sinatra predicted: "He's next."
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 fifteen times (and in every decade) from 1973 to 2015. He has also produced Grammy-nominated albums for Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, and Sarah Vaughan. Manilow has sold more than 85 million records as a solo artist worldwide, making him one of the world's bestselling artists.
