Elvis Presley may be The King of Rock and Roll, but Barry Manilow is now the king of the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Manilow, 80, recently surpassed Presley’s previously held record of 636 shows at the venue. The “Copacabana” singer performed his 637th show at the Westgate on September 23.
It was a night to remember as Manilow donated all of the proceeds to several charities in Presley’s honor. He also performed covers of several of The King’s top hits.
In 1969, Presley began his residency at the Westgate, then known as International Hotel. By 1976 he had played 636 shows.
Unfortunately, his untimely death the following year put an end to his then record-setting residency.
Manilow first played at the venue, then called the Las Vegas Hilton, in 1985. He returned to venue in 2005 and played there until 2009.
The iconic singer took a break from Las Vegas, performing in other locations, before returning to Sin City in 2018. On September 23, 2023, the 80-year-old played his 637th concert at the Westgate.
“It’s great. I mean listen, what’s [really] great is being in the same sentence as Elvis Presley,” Manilow told ET prior to the big night. “This is beyond just another singer. This was somebody who invented a style of music that wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t done it, so this was a big [honor]. And it’s great that both of us were working on this stage.”
While many have compared the two iconic singers and their residencies, Manilow said there’s little the two have in common.
“What he did was so far away from what I do that I really don’t even consider us in competition. He was an inventor of a style of music,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “You’ve got to give him credit for that. And I was an inventor of my kind of music, with the big ballads and the big backbeats. That’s the only thing we have in common. I just admired his fame and his talent.”
Now that he’s broken Presley’s record, Manilow isn’t taking a step back from show business. If anything, he’s setting his eyes on the next record: Donny and Marie Osmond’s 1,730 shows.
It’s crazy to think how many shows Barry Manilow has performed in Las Vegas… over 630! Have you ever seen him? What did you think of his show?
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