By admin 
Introduction
As he shatters records in Las Vegas and conquers Broadway, Barry Manilow reflects on a life of love, music, and lasting friendships — including an emotional Bette Midler, who has finally forgiven her longtime accompanist for becoming a superstar in his own right.
Barry Manilow is poolside at his Palm Springs home, an expansive eight-bedroom villa perched on a hillside with sweeping views of the Coachella Valley. Standing just over six feet tall and strikingly slim, he looks taller than expected. This morning, he taps a spindly leg to the beat of Calvin Harris’ “Love Regenerator,” far from the easy-listening hits that made him famous. Manilow’s love for dance music runs deep — his Spotify library is filled with it.
At 80, a milestone he celebrated last June, Manilow is riding one of the busiest stretches of his six-decade career. In September, he performed his 637th show at Las Vegas’ Westgate Resort, surpassing Elvis’ record of 636 performances at the same venue (then the Las Vegas Hilton) in 1976. Since 2004, he has played two weeks a month, three nights a week, at the resort. In October, he sold out five nights at Radio City Music Hall, with another five shows planned for April. In June, he’s set to headline the London Palladium — billed as his “last, last U.K. concerts.”
His Broadway musical, Harmony, a story about a Jewish boy band rising to fame as the Nazis ascend in Berlin, finally debuted in November after 25 years of workshops, co-written with longtime lyricist Bruce Sussman (Copacabana). Meanwhile, his cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” sits at No. 15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart — ahead of Dua Lipa’s “Houdini.” Over his career, Manilow has had 11 Top 10 hits on the Hot 100, including three No. 1s — “Mandy,” “I Write the Songs,” and “Looks Like We Made It” — and has sold over 85 million records worldwide, cementing his place among the best-selling recording artists of all time.
Manilow himself remains astonished by his enduring success. “Most of my family lived until 74, so when I hit 74, I thought, ‘This is it,’” he says. “But it didn’t stop. I kept going on the road, kept making records. I wonder sometimes, when will my body give in?”
Tour manager Ken Thomas, who has worked with him for 15 years, sees no slowing down. “He’ll go until he physically can’t walk out on stage,” Thomas says. “He’s said, ‘If I can’t do it right, I won’t do it at all.’”
Backup singer Melanie Taylor, with Manilow since the early 2000s, adds, “Your spirit is one age, your body another. Barry’s spirit is young, childlike. He’s curious, engaged, and consistent.”
Thomas credits Manilow’s longevity to two things: “One, the road is his family. We’re all close, and performing gives us purpose. Two, Barry’s drive to always improve. Up to ten minutes before showtime, he’s tweaking, perfecting. Sometimes we clash, but he’s always right.”
For Manilow, the constant fine-tuning is the joy. “Adjusting the lights, video, working with musicians — I love that. Performing is the job. That’s the hard part. It looks fun, but it’s work.”
Fitness and discipline keep him strong. He trains every morning, quit smoking, and manages a strict schedule: up by 4 a.m., asleep by midnight, often surprising himself with how little he eats. His partner of 45 years — manager and husband since 2014, Garry Kief — has been by his side through it all. Together, they’ve made Palm Springs home for a quarter-century.
Two days before our interview, Manilow concluded A Gift of Love VI, a five-night charity concert series benefiting 25 local charities. Watching him perform that final night, it’s impossible not to marvel at his stamina and vocal power, especially during his emotionally charged finales. “I’m a terrible lip-syncher,” he says with a grin. Resistance is futile — the audience rises, captivated.
Manilow’s extraordinary talent was apparent from the start. “My second gig was at The Bijou in Philadelphia,” he recalls. “My mom came, and even though I stunk, the audience saw something in that skinny piano player. They believed in me before I did.”
He was never meant to be the star. Growing up in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, he aspired to be an orchestrator and accompanist. For the first decade of his career, he wrote jingles by day (“Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”) and played piano for aspiring female singers by night — until Bette Midler arrived in his life in 1971.
“The Continental Baths owner sent me to meet Barry,” Midler recalls. “He could play anything, arrange anything, make anything funny or sad. He had charm and a great ear.”
Manilow’s first impression? “She was every Jewish boy’s nightmare — my mother, grandmother, and all my female relatives rolled into one,” he wrote in Sweet Life (1987). Their debut performance together at the Baths, with Midler singing “Friends,” left him in shock: “It was like sticking my hand into an electric socket.” Their talents together birthed “the Divine Miss M.”
Though Manilow would eventually come out publicly in 2017, early on he kept quiet, fearing career repercussions. He met Garry Kief in 1978 during a TV special and never looked back, committing to a lifelong partnership of love and stability.
The pair’s bond has endured decades of success, Palm Springs living, and charity work. Retirement? Not a chance. As Midler notes, “At 80, he’s still playing Las Vegas, still vital, energetic, and Barry.” She adds emotionally, “I’m proud of him. His generosity has never faltered.”