Barry Manilow has revealed he went bankrupt in 1980 after accountants pointed out mismanagement of his fortune had eaten away at his millions.

The crooner kept his money worries to himself but admits he was stunned when he realised he only had $11,000 (GBP5,790) to show for all his success.

He explains, "I went bankrupt after selling 50 million records! I knew how to read a score but I really didn't know how to read a bank statement.

"I didn't know what to do with all that money that was coming in, so I hired accountants and business managers and I just trusted them.

"Before I knew it I looked up and one of my new managers told me, 'You know you have $11,000 in the bank. I said, 'Excuse me.' And this was after all of those hits and after all those big tours and after all of that.

"Even though I felt like an idiot for allowing it to happen - and I'll never let that happen again - I still didn't feel like it was the end of the world because I still felt, 'How bad can it be? I'll just start again,' and I did."

Manilow is now living in the lap of luxury again - one of his homes is a palatial three-storey penthouse at Las Vegas, Nevada's Hilton hotel, which was home to Elvis Presley for eight years.

24/02/2005 04:07