Barry Manilow is still obsessed with craft.
Ahead of his 55th album, the “Mandy” singer took a deep dive into modern pop. He wanted to take a crack at writing like artists like Billie Eilish, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Speaking to The Times of London, he said that radio pop in 2026 is one long ramble.
“I really studied what’s going on out there — artists like Billie Eilish. I tried to write like her but I just couldn’t because I’m used to verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, ending — but pop music now just sounds like run-on sentences,” he said. “Where is the chorus? Hook? Song after song is like that.”
It is perhaps unsurprising that Manilow reached for Eilish as his guide to modern pop. Beyond her megahits, Eilish’s sexuality fueled tabloid gossip for years. Manilow has been a relationship with his now husband since the late ’70s, but he only publicly came out as gay in 2018. He told the Times that coming out at the time would have killed his career.
“Little by little, it became OK to be gay, but at the start? No,” he said. “It was rough back then … when we did come out? I expected headlines — but nothing. Nobody cared!”
Manilow was unable to imitate Eilish’s hits. Manilow’s album “What a Time” ended up being full of Barry Manilow songs.
“I went back to what I know and people will either think I haven’t listened to pop radio in 40 years or they’ll say, ‘Thank God! Something to hang my ears on!’” he said.
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When asked to elaborate on his problems with radio hits, he said that songwriters have been devalued.
“The rhythm and grooves are delicious, but songwriters? I don’t think they’re there anymore,” the 83-year-old said. “[The songs] feel written by young people, who know a couple of chords, and some new songs are really good, but the stars of pop nowadays are studio engineers and the last thing you pay attention to in a modern record are the lyrics or melody.”
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