Barry Manilow on Being Busier Than Ever: 'By Keeping Working, You Stay Young' (Exclusive)
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The music icon will be honored by the New York Pops orchestra with a special Carnegie Hall concert on May 1
He wrote the songs — now Barry Manilow is getting his flowers!
On May 1, the New York Pops orchestra will celebrate its 40th season with a special concert of Manilow's music to honor the pop icon.
"It's the first time anything like that has ever happened to me," the "Mandy" singer, 79, tells 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."
Along with musical director and conductor Steven Reineke and the New York Pops, a slew of singers — including Dionne Warwick, Megan Hilty and Erich Bergen — will perform Manilow's myriad hits at the tribute show. And concertgoers can expect a show-stopping performance from flamenco icon Charo, who is set to deliver a rendition of Manilow's fan-favorite "Copacabana."
"It's a difficult song to sing and to pull off," Manilow says, "but I said, 'You think you could get Charo to do "Copacabana?"' And she said she'd love to. Is that perfect or what?"
Manilow isn't slowing down these days. In addition to his ongoing Las Vegas residency dates, he'll be performing five nights at Radio City Music Hall in his hometown of New York City next month. Plus, it was announced Friday that Manilow and lyricist Bruce Sussman's musical, Harmony, will open on Broadway this fall.
Despite wrapping his "One Last Time" farewell tour in 2016, he's still performing, happily. As for what keeps him going?
"Well, I don't like sitting around watching television," says Manilow, who married his longtime manager and partner Garry Kief in 2014. "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."
Indeed, and the Grammy and Emmy winner's catalog keeps him onstage for his fans.
"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 says.
The expert arranger considers all of his songs his "children," but there are two that, looking back, he is particularly proud of.
"I do love 'Could it Be Magic' because that was on the very first album," Manilow says. "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!"
And "Copacabana" also holds a special place 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 recalls. "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.'"
And that, Manilow says, is the legacy he hopes to leave behind: "I would hope that I made you feel something."
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