Marvin Hamlisch - Stars Come Out To Pay Tribute To Marvin Hamlisch

The stars came out to pay tribute to the late American composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch who passed away last month aged 68, with Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Liza Minelli appearing at a memorial service in tribute to the great music writer.

The BBC reports that the invite-only service was held at New York’s Juilliard School and saw Minelli perform If You Really Knew Me from the musical They’re Playing My Song whilst Franklin sung James Bond theme Nobody Does It Better. It was a fitting tribute to someone who won three Academy Awards, a Tony, four Grammys , four Emmys and a Pultizer Prize during their career.
The event was arranged by Streisand and she commented on Hamlisch's life by saying "Without explaining why or how, we understood each other’s anxieties," in reference to their shared Jewish heritage.

An audience that included Michael Douglas and Sarah Jessica Parker were treated to performances not just by three women who are among the finest voices in popular music history, but also three of Hamlisch’s closest friends, making it a wholly fitting evening. Minelli said that she’d known him since they were in their teens, whilst Franklin performed a version of the spiritual ballad Deep River in homage. The tribute also featured While I Still Have The Time - a song from his final musical, The Nutty Professor, which premiered in Nashville in August.