By admin 
Introduction
As Barry Manilow shatters records in Las Vegas and takes Broadway by storm, the legendary singer reflects on life, love, and career, with insights from an emotional Bette Midler, who is finally ready to forgive her longtime accompanist for becoming a superstar in his own right.
Manilow stands poolside at his sprawling Palm Springs villa, a stunning eight-bedroom home perched on a hillside overlooking the Coachella Valley. At over six feet tall and rail-thin, he casts an unexpectedly commanding figure. This morning, he taps a spindly leg to a techno track by Calvin Harris, not the easy-listening tunes that made him a household name, but a beat-heavy track from his Spotify library. Dance music, it turns out, is a secret passion of his.
At 80, having celebrated his milestone last June, Manilow is in the midst of one of the most active periods of his six-decade career. In September, he performed his 637th show at Las Vegas’ Westgate Resort Hotel, surpassing Elvis Presley’s record of 636 performances at the same stage (then the Las Vegas Hilton) in 1976. Since 2004, he has performed regularly in Las Vegas, averaging two weeks a month, three nights a week. Recently, he sold out five nights at Radio City Music Hall, with another five shows planned for April, and has booked a June residency at the London Palladium, billed as his “last, last U.K. concerts.”
In November, his Broadway musical Harmony—a story about a real Jewish boy band that rose to fame as the Nazis took power—finally debuted after 25 years of workshops, co-created with longtime collaborator Bruce Sussman. Adding to his streak, Manilow’s cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” currently sits at No. 15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, ahead of Dua Lipa’s “Houdini.” Over his career, he has racked up 11 top-10 hits on the Hot 100, including three No. 1s—“Mandy,” “I Write the Songs,” and “Looks Like We Made It”—and sold over 85 million records, cementing him as one of the best-selling recording artists in history.
Even Manilow himself is astonished by his longevity. “My family, most of them 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. I kept making records. I keep wondering, when will my body say no?”
Ken Thomas, his tour manager for 15 years, believes Manilow will perform as long as he physically can. “He’s said, ‘If I can’t do it right, I won’t do it at all,’” Thomas says. Backup singer Melanie Taylor credits his vitality to a youthful spirit and boundless curiosity.
Manilow’s dedication to performance extends to meticulous show preparation. “Changing things around, working with the musicians, the lights, the video—that’s the fun part. Performing itself? That’s the job,” he says. Daily workouts, quitting smoking, and disciplined routines help keep him fit, while his husband and manager of 45 years, Garry Kief, keeps him grounded.
Despite decades of superstardom, Manilow remains humble about his early beginnings. Growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, he aspired to be an orchestrator and songwriter, not the marquee performer he became. His breakthrough came when he met Bette Midler at the Continental Baths, a legendary New York venue. Their collaboration birthed “the Divine Miss M,” and Manilow’s musical genius soon led to a record deal of his own.
Signed to Arista by Clive Davis in 1974, Manilow’s second album introduced him to a broader audience. His cover of “Brandy,” retitled “Mandy,” became his first No. 1 hit, launching him into superstardom. While he often performed his own compositions, including classics like “Could It Be Magic,” “Copacabana,” and “Even Now,” he also masterfully interpreted works by other songwriters, demonstrating his versatile artistry.
Today, Manilow bridges past and present in his shows. Performing “Mandy,” he duets with a projection of his younger self, reflecting on his journey with humor and nostalgia. Coming out publicly in 2017 after decades of speculation, he acknowledges the burden of secrecy but cherishes his life with Kief, a relationship spanning over four decades.
Though the pace of his career shows no sign of slowing, Manilow remains deeply connected to his community. His charity performances, like A Gift of Love VI in Palm Springs, raise funds for local organizations, proving his generosity has never wavered. As Bette Midler reflects, “To be 80 and still performing at this level—Barry’s still vital, energetic, and still Barry. I’m proud of him, and so grateful for his talent and heart.”