Carole Bayer Sayer Graduated from M&A

Carole Bayer Sager is best known as an extremely prolific lyricist, singer, songwriter, painter and New York Times best-selling author. She has earned gold and platinum records for her songs written for artists such as Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, ​Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond, Carly Simon, and a long list of other well-known stars. 

She was born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1947 to Eli Bayer and Anita Nathan Bayer and they lived in Manhattan, New York in an apartment on West 58th Street. Carol grew up listening to her father playing classical music on the piano by ear (with one finger), along with her mother's love for the records of all the top musicals. By nine years old, Carol began rewriting the lyrics to familiar songs and soon came to the decision that she wanted to be a song writer. Her piano teacher, who had recorded a hit song of his own, was instrumental in building her confidence and she became proficient at the piano.   

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When Carol was accepted to the High School of Music and Art she was twelve years old (1958). ​After meeting a fellow student who shared her love of music, she and Sherry Harway spent all of their free time writing music and lyrics. They taught themselves how to write pop songs.

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Using the connection of her piano teacher, who knew a publisher in the nearby Brill building on Broadway, the two sixteen year olds were determined that the world would hear their work. It wasn't until after Carol and Sherry graduated from M&A (June 1961) that they signed their first contract to be paid songwriters. Unfortunately, by the second year in college (NYU), they had not written a hit song. By late 1963, Sherry was getting married and giving up writing. Carol was now in search of a new writing partner and things began to change. By 1965, 'Carol' decided to change her first name to 'Carole' and she teamed up with songwriter Toni Wine and together they wrote "A Groovy Kind of Love" for the group The Mindbenders. The song soon reached number two in the UK, and did the same in the United States when it was released a year later.  

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During the '70s: Carole married record-producer Andrew Sager (m. 1970 - 1978). A few of her songwriting collaborations created the songs When I Need You (sung by Leo Sayers), Don't Cry Out Loud (sung by Melissa Manchester), Nobody Does It Better (sung by Carly Simon), It's My Turn (sung by Diana Ross) and Thru The Eyes of Love (again by Melissa Manchester).

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During the '80's, Carole married composer and pianist Burt Bacharach (m. 1982 - 1991). They also have a son who was born December 1985. Carole and Burt's combined talent produced multiple hits. They won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do), which was the theme song from the movie Arthur.

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Also in the '80s, they wrote On My Own (sung by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald)  and That's What Friends Are For, which they received the Grammy Award for Song of the Year (sung by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John).

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During the '90's: In June 1996, Carole married Robert Daly, chairman of the American Film Institute. She and her husband currently live in Los Angeles. In 1999, along with David Foster, she wrote the song The Prayer (sung by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli).

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Carole is also a gifted painter. Her first solo art show was held on March 2011 at the Arthouse in Los Angeles. All of these works are oil paint on linen. The theme is not how food looks but how it makes you feel. Needless to say, you shouldn't go to the exhibit hungry.

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Oct 18, 2016, was the release of Carole Bayer Sager's book: They’re Playing Our Song: A Memoir. Steve Martin describes it as “a delightful and funny tell-all crammed with famous names and famous songs.”

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