Barry Manilow

Considered by many to be the very embodiment of the soft rock and adult contemporary genres, Barry Manilow is one of the most successful pop artists ever. He became an international superstar in the 1970s with a string of hits combining heart-on-sleeve sentiment with lyrical pop craftsmanship and a slick, highly orchestrated production. His welcoming, show biz-savvy image, influenced by his early days as musical director for Bette Midler, appealed to an extremely wide audience. He conceived of himself as a pop entertainer and all-around showman in the classic mold, and his performances and stage shows were accordingly theatrical. Manilow dominated pop music during the latter half of the '70s like few other performers, spinning off a long series of hit singles like "I Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It," "Mandy," and "Copacabana (At the Copa)," as well as platinum albums, including 1978's number three Billboard 200-charting Even Now, that essentially made the Arista label. As tastes changed in the '80s, he branched out into other genres, exploring his long-held taste for swing, pop standards, and Broadway show tunes. He continued to record steadily during the following decades, and his popularity never completely waned, as evidenced by the number one peak of his 2006 covers album, Greatest Songs of the Fifties, and number four peak of his intimate standards 2014's standards album, Night Songs. In 2017, he again cracked the Top 20 with his homage to the city that helped launch his career, This Is My Town: Songs of New York.