After his mother Edna and stepfather Willie Murphy saved up $800 for him to buy a piano over the course of five years, he developed an interest in music. Barry went on to have a prosperous career spanning several decades, so it turned out to be money well spent.

Before attending the New York College of Music, Barry enrolled at the City College of New York. Afterwards, he attended the Juilliard School to study musical theater before beginning a log clerk job at CBS.

He fell in love with Susan Deixler, the girl he had fallen in love with in high school, during that period of his life, and they were married at the age of barely 21. The marriage ended after only approximately two years due to his perception that he wasn’t ready to settle down just yet and that he was too focused on music. “I simply wasn’t prepared for marriage; every night I was out creating music and planting my wild oats.” “I wasn’t ready to settle down; I was too young,” the singer said.

Barry spent many years penning tunes for commercials prior to having his big break. He had the good fortune to feature in a Dr. Pepper commercial that, as he put it, “paid the rent for years.”