Audio of Melissa Manchester at growingbolder.com

Posted on April 2nd, 2011 at 5:55 am

Melissa Manchester is one of the most successful and prolific singer/songwriters of the past couple decades.

The Grammy Award-winning actress got her big break backing up her friend Bette Midler for Bette's debut at Carnegie Hall. Just six months later, Melissa had a contract of her own and would soon be headlining Carnegie Hall herself.

She shares stories of early days, including learning how to write songs from Paul Simon and singing for commercials with Barry Manilow.

Melissa says she never had a plan B for her life -- music was her passion and it's the only thing she ever wanted to pursue.

Melissa reveals how her breakthrough hit, "Midnight Blue," was meant for Dionne Warwick and how she ended up singing it instead.

Plus, find out how she reworked one of her old songs specifically for Barbra Streisand. Streisand loved it so much that she ended up singing it on her wedding day to her new husband, James Brolin.

These days, Melissa is still touring, writing songs and is a tireless advocate for breast cancer research. She's even recorded a song, "Power of Ribbons," that is sold exclusively on iTunes and Amazon.com, to benefit breast cancer research.

Melissa explains why the disease is such a personal battle.

To find out how you can see Melissa live yourself, click here to visit her website.