Photo: RCraig09 at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Melissa Manchester is one of the great underrated voices of the singer-songwriter era. She came up alongside Barry Manilow as one of Bette Midler's Harlettes, then built a genuinely distinctive catalog where the ballads like Don't Cry Out Loud hit with real theatrical power. What impresses me is the range, she could write a tender confessional like Midnight Blue and then belt a film anthem, even landing two Oscar-nominated songs in one year. She never quite got the household-name status of her peers, but the craft is undeniable. A pro's pro from the Bronx with a voice built for the big notes.
Overview
Melissa Manchester is an American singer, songwriter, and actress born in 1951 in the Bronx, New York. A staple of 1970s and 1980s soft rock and pop, she scored hits such as Midnight Blue and Don't Cry Out Loud. She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance and was the first artist to have two Academy Award-nominated songs in the same year.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Melissa Manchester
- Name (Japanese)
- メリサ・マンチェスター
- Reading
- めりさ・まんちぇすたー
- Born
- February 15, 1951 (age 75)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Rabbit
- Origin
- The Bronx, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Actor / Musician / Singer / Songwriter / Television actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Musician — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.