The well-known American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow has enthralled audiences all over the world with his catchy songs and poignant lyrics. Manilow was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 17, 1943, and his musical career has spanned decades and genres. Barry Manilow’s ethnicity is sometimes questioned by admirers who research the artist’s past.
Examining Manilow’s ancestry reveals a fascinating tapestry, as his varied cultural background contributes to his remarkable career despite his Jewish and Ukrainian ancestry. This article explores the intriguing ethnic background of the guy responsible for classic tunes like “Copacabana” and “Mandy.”
Barry Manilow Ethnicity
Manilow is a well-known singer and composer who is of mixed ethnicity. He is descended explicitly from a family that can be traced back to Limerick, Ireland, making him half-Irish.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 17, 1943, under the name Barry Alan Pincus, and he considers himself an American citizen.
During his childhood, he was reared by his mother, Edna, and his Jewish immigrant parents from Russia.
He once said, “The Irish part of me did not exist,” expressing a sense of disassociation from that aspect of his background despite having Irish ancestry. It vanished and was forgotten.
In 1961, Manilow graduated from the now-closed Eastern District High School. He first enrolled in the City College of New York and then, for a brief period, attended the New York College of Music. To sustain himself, he also started working at CBS.
Barry Manilow Biography
American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus, June 17, 1943) had a seven-decade career. Could It Be Magic, Looks Like We Made It, Manny, I Write the Songs, Can’t Smile Without You, Weekend in New England, and Copabana (At the Copa) are just a few of his famous recordings.
51 Top 40 songs on the Adult Contemporary Chart are his work; 13 of them peaked at number one, 28 made it into the top 10, and 36 made it to the top twenty. Manilow has released thirteen platinum and six multi-platinum albums.
Music critics may not be fans of Manilow, but colleagues in the recording business have given him high marks, including Frank Sinatra, who was reportedly told in the 1970s that “He’s next.”
Manilow has written and sung songs for musicals, movies, and advertisements for companies including McDonald’s, Pepsi Cola, and Band-Aid, in addition to producing and arranging records for himself and other artists.
He had fifteen nominations for Grammy Awards (every decade) from 1973 to 2015, having won one as a producer, arranger, and singer. Additionally, he produced records for Bette Midler, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson, and Sarah Vaughan, who were nominated for Grammys. Manilow is one of the bestselling performers in the world, having sold over 85 million records as a solo performer.
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Barry Manilow’s Personal Life
In 1964, Manilow wed Susan Deixler, his high school sweetheart. Later, Manilow admitted that he was in love with his wife and that their marriage was suffering because of his immaturity and his intense desire for a music career.
After just a year of marriage, he left the lady he deemed “the perfect wife” to embark on a “wondrous musical adventure.” Manilow attributes his confidence to start a music career by leaving everything behind, all thanks to Playboy’s reaction in December 1965.
“I asked a lot of people what I should do, and they all said different things,” Manilow stated. “Finally, I was so desperate, I wrote to the Playboy Advisor.” In 1966, Deixler got the marriage dissolved. In 2017, Manilow declared that he was in love with Deixler and that his marriage’s breakdown had nothing to do with his s*xual orientation, even though he went on to have a long-term relationship with a guy.
Barry Manilow’s Career
When Manilow first met CBS director Bro Herrod in 1964, he was invited to compose a few songs for a musical version of the melodrama The Drunkard. Instead, Manilow wrote a whole new score.
Herrod used Manilow’s composition in the Off-Broadway musical, which ran at New York’s 13th Street Repertory Theatre for eight years. Manilow then made a living by performing as an arranger, producer, and pianist.
He started working as a singer and songwriter for commercial jingles at this period, and he did so for the rest of the 1960s. He sang several of the TV jingles he wrote, such as Band-Aid and State Farm Insurance, for which he took on a childlike voice and composed the music.
Commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi (“all across the nation, it’s the Pepsi generation”), McDonald’s (“you deserve a break today”), and Dr. Pepper are among his singing-only credits.
For his achievements as a vocalist and jingle composer in the 1960s, Manilow received an Honorary Clio at the 50th Anniversary Clio Awards in Las Vegas in 2009. In accepting the prize, he said that his three or four years as a writer in the jingle industry taught him the most about the pop music business.
Manilow served as the show’s musical director by 1967; Callback debuted on January 27, 1968, on WCBS-TV. He then wrote, produced, and sang his radio and television jingles while conducting and arranging for Ed Sullivan’s production firm.
He also orchestrated a new theme for The Late Show. In parallel, he and Jeanne Lucas played as a pair at Julius Monk’s Upstairs at the Downstairs Club in New York for two seasons.
Tony Orlando, a recording artist and vice-president of Columbia/CBS Music, signed Manilow in 1969. Manilow and a group of studio musicians were produced and co-written by Orlando under the moniker “Featherbed” on the Bell Records label, which Columbia Pictures had recently bought.
