Barry Manilow Chats About His Recent Busy Schedule: ‘By Keeping Working, You Stay Young’

The New York Pops Orchestra is set to celebrate forty seasons of music. One of the honorees is the iconic Barry Manilow.

Musical Legacies

“It’s the first time anything like that has ever happened to me,” the “Mandy” the singer told PEOPLE. “This is the first time an organization has said, ‘Let’s do an evening of his music.’ No one’s ever done that. I’ve won awards periodically, but not this; not a whole evening of the music that’s meant so much to me in my life, sung by some wonderful, wonderful singers and a 78-piece orchestra. I know I’m going to be going through a lot of Kleenex.”

Steven Reineke, the musical director and conductor of the New York Pops, will be joined by singers such as Dionne Warwick, Megan Hilty, and Erich Bergen in a tribute show to perform Barry Manilow’s hits. Charo, the flamenco icon, is set to give an unforgettable performance of Manilow’s beloved Copacabana.

“It’s a difficult song to sing and to pull off,” Manilow shared, “but I said, ‘You think you could get Charo to do “Copacabana?”‘ And she said she’d love to. Is that perfect or what?”

Barry Manilow is staying busy. He will be playing five nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City next month, and his musical, Harmony, has been announced to open on Broadway this fall.

His last wrapped tour was in 2016 and now he’s moving forward with more projects.

“Well, I don’t like sitting around watching television,” Manilow shared. “I mean, I’m just one of the lucky guys that always has something. I’ve got two albums that I’m working on, then Radio City, and it just goes on and on and on. I think by keeping working, you stay young, or at least you stay vibrant and your brain is always working. And that’s me — I’ve always got something going on.”

“You would think I’d be bored with this stuff, and I’m not, because the audiences just love these songs, and I’m so grateful for it,” Manilow continued.

Love Of Art

He talks about how he thinks of his songs as his “children.”

“I do love “Could it Be Magic” because that was on the very first album,” Manilow continued. “I was so young. When I look back, I say, ‘How did you have the guts to do something like that?’ A song, based on a Chopin prelude, that’s eight minutes long… I didn’t know anything about pop music. If you want to get it on the radio, you can’t get it any more than two-and-a-half or three minutes. Mine was eight. But some radio stations around the country started playing the eight-minute version of ‘Could it be Magic,’ and the record company edited it down, ruined it. But they did play it!”

Copacabana will always be cherished in Manilow’s heart.

“It was such a surprise that it would be a hit. Even Clive Davis said, ‘That’s a novelty cut. That belongs on the Sonny & Cher variety show,'” he shared. “So none of us had any ideas that that would be such a beloved song. And so when people mentioned my name and the younger people, they don’t know ‘I Write the Songs’ or ‘Mandy’ or any of the other ones. But when you say ‘Copacabana,’ they’re like, ‘Oh yeah. I’ve always loved that one.'”

Manilow hopes to leave behind this legacy, “I would hope that I made you feel something.”

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