Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook is a 2003 studio album by the American singer Bette Midler, produced by Barry Manilow, their first collaboration in over two decades. The album was Midler's first for Columbia and Sony Music, after nearly 30 years with Warner Music Group.
Following the June 2002 death of singer Rosemary Clooney, Manilow claims to have had a dream about producing a tribute album with Midler providing vocals. Midler shared in the liner notes: "When Barry approached me ("I had this dream!") about recording an album of Rosemary's standards, I was excited, but apprehensive. I wanted to be respectful, but I felt we had to find something new to say as well, and in these (mostly) new arrangements...I believe we have."
Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 with 71,000 copies sold in its initial week of release,[1] and been certified Gold by the RIAA.[2] The album's success prompted Midler to release a Peggy Lee tribute album in 2005.
AllMusic editor Matt Collar rated the album four stars out of five. He found that "Midler's plucky blonde persona and genre-crossing style and Manilow's modern day blend of Mercer and Porter make this album work – most of the time [...] Midler – who can carry a tune on personality alone – sounds elegant and alive here and Manilow's classy orchestral arrangements frame the proceedings with the urbane glow of nostalgia for a time – be it the '50s or the '70s – when a big band, a great song, and blonde with a nice voice were all you needed for a good time."[3]
