Barry Manilow had been around the music business for quite a while. He had written musical jingles for commercials including State Farm Insurance (“Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There”) and Band-Aid (“I Am Stuck on Band-Aid, ’cause Band-Aid’s Stuck on Me!”). He sang on ads for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pepsi (“All Across the Nation, it’s the Pepsi Generation”), McDonald’s (“You Deserve a Break Today”) and Dr Pepper.

From 1971 to 1975 he played piano for Bette Midler. He produced her first two albums and was the musical director for her tour.

He had his first hit “Mandy” in 1975. In 1976 his hit song was “I Write the Songs.” Everyone thought he wrote that song but it was written by Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys. It was on the top of the Cash Box chart for the week of Dec. 27, 1975 to Jan. 3, 1976. It was on the top of the Billboard Chart for the week of Jan. 11 – 17, 1976.

Barry would have many more hit songs. He also ended up doing some “Specials” on TV.

Just last month Barry, a cigarette smoker from age 9 to age 39, announced he had a diagnosis of early stage lung cancer, for which he would undergo surgery. He expects to be back on stage in Las Vegas in February.