For Barry Manilow, it all began when he decided to pursue his dream of becoming part of the entertainment industry. He got into music when his mother Edna and stepfather Willie Murphy bought him a piano for $800, which took him five years to pay off.
It turned out to be money well spent, as Barry went on to make a name for himself and a career that spans several decades.
Before entering the New York College of Music, Barry enrolled at the City College of New York. He then attended the Juilliard School, where he studied musical theatre, before working as a recording clerk at CBS.
During this period of his life, he fell in love with his high school sweetheart Susan Deixler, whom he married when he was just 21. The marriage lasted only about two years, as he wasn’t ready to settle down and was too busy with music.
“I wasn’t ready for marriage, I was making music every night, I was too busy with music. I was too young, I wasn’t ready to settle down,” explains the singer.
In the years leading up to his breakthrough, Barry wrote songs for commercials. He was lucky enough to appear in an advert for Dr Pepper, which, he says, “paid the rent for years”.
The pop star hid her romance with this man for 39 years: they married in secret at the age of 71
