Barry Manilow gets festive with new albums

LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - American crooner Barry Manilow is in a festive mood.

With Manilow set to end a five-year run at the Las Vegas Hilton on December 30, Sony Music said the 66-year-old singer has re-signed his recording deal with its Arista Records label and will be releasing two new albums in the coming months.

He will be releasing his third Christmas album, "In The Swing of Christmas" on October 13 featuring contemporary and traditional yuletide songs including "Silver Bells," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

He will record his second new album, "The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time," in collaboration with Arista founder Clive Davis, who is now chief creative officer at Sony Music. This is set for release in January in time for Valentine's Day.

Davis has collaborated with Manilow on several of his recordings since they first worked together on "Mandy," Manilow's debut No. 1 single and the artist signed to Arista.

Manilow's contract with Arista was not renewed in 2000 when Davis was also ousted from the label following a power struggle. But when Davis returned to Arista in 2005, he re-signed Manilow.

"Barry and I have a mission to bring to a new generation the great songs that are the soundtrack of our lives. This album does just that and Barry is sounding better than ever," Davis said in a statement.

Sony Music is owned by Sony Corp.

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)