EXCLUSIVE: Looks like he made it! Barry Manilow kicks The King off his Throne ... trends now
Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, who boasts a career spanning seven decades, beat Elvis Presley's record for the most performances with his 637th show at Westgate Las Vegas.
The Brooklyn-born crooner, 80, announced on September 23 that he had signed up to perform in another run starting February 2024. The record was established by Elvis at the iconic International Theatre inside the hotel.
In homage to the King, Manilow donned a leather jacket and belted out Elvis's hit song Hound Dog, which received a standing ovation.
Turning to his early beginnings in music, Manilow told the audience how his grandfather inspired him to become a musician.
'Grandpa wouldn't give up. Every Saturday afternoon, he would take me across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Time Square and he would put his quarter into this thing and eventually I figured out what he was trying to get me to do and I sang something for him and I liked it,' he said.
Barry Manilow broke Elvis Presley's records for most performances at the Westgate in Las Vegas by performing his 637th show at the hotel
Manilow looked spritely as he ran across the stage throwing red scarves to his adoring fans
In a tribute to the late crooner, he sang the hit Hound Dog and earned a standing ovation
From 1969 until his death in 1977, The King would perform 636 shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in month-long stints of two a night (pictured on stage in 1975)
'It wasn't so much the singing part that I liked, it was the music. Even at that young age, I kind of understood it. If you ask my musician friends, they say the same thing: I was terrible at sports and maths but I kind of understood music.'
When asked what keeps him motivated to perform night after night in his long running residency, Manilow said: 'These people are so
