He is one of the most acclaimed interpreters credited with renewing the popularity of the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. Michael Feinstein is arguably the single most knowledgeable and dedicated musical anthropologist and archivist the Great American Songbook has ever known (a fact not lost on the Library of Congress, which recently elected Feinstein to the National Sound Recording Advisory Board, an organization dedicated to safeguarding America’s musical heritage). As detailed in his bestselling 1995 memoir Nice Work If You Can Get It: My Life in Rhythm and Rhyme, the four-time GRAMMY® Award-nominee has spent his entire adult life chronicling, cataloging, preserving, protecting, and recording the work of various masters, tending to sidestep bigger names like Porter and Berlin in favor of less-heralded geniuses. Feinstein combines hits and rarities to create the equivalent of a musical biography, in the process often unearthing gems that might otherwise have been forever lost. His past subjects have included a stellar troupe of composers, from Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, Hugh Martin, and Jimmy Webb to Burton Lane, Jay Livingston, and Ray Evans. Feinstein’s fascination with all aspects of music, which he aptly describes as his “ruling passion,” dates to his adolescence in Columbus, Ohio, but truly took flight when, having moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, fortuitous circumstances led to a meeting with Ira Gershwin. The legendary lyricist, then age 80, invited Feinstein to catalog his vast record collection. The assignment led to a six-year musical excavation of Gershwin’s home on Beverly Hills’ Roxbury Drive, preserving the legacy of not just Ira but his equally celebrated composer brother George, who had died four decades earlier at the age of 38. Feinstein’s extended tenure on Roxbury Drive also enabled him to get to know next-door neighbor Rosemary Clooney, whose house was once owned by George Gershwin. An intensely close friendship ensued, lasting until Rosemary’s death.

Grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and moved to LA when he was 19 (where he met Ira Gershwin)

Father, Edward, used to be a singer and also a sales executive for the Sara Lee Corporation. Mother, Maizie, tap dances semi-professionally.

Started playing piano by ear at age 5. Took piano lessons for a couple of months until his teacher became angered that he wasn't reading the music she gave him to play. Since Michael's mother saw no problem with her son's method, she took him out of lessons and allowed him to enjoy music his own way.

Owns his own nightclub in Manhattan, Feinstein's at the Regency, which is the premier showcase for cabaret performers. Feinstein himself plays a sold-out show there during the holidays every year.

Known to many as the "Ambassador of the American Song." His repertoire as a singer/pianist includes songs by many great American songwriters, such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington and Harry Warren.

Has a talent for finding "lost," older songs, and breathing new life into them, thereby preserving great music for future generations.

Was introduced to Ira Gershwin through Oscar Levant's widow, June. Michael revered Ira and George Gershwin, and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of the pair's work. Michael recounted many stories he knew about the two during his first meeting with Ira, and he was so impressed with the young man that he made him his assistant for 6 years.

Member of the Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board

Started playing in piano bars right out of high school to support himself

In 1988, his one-man Broadway show called "Isn't It Romantic: Michael Feinstein in Concert" made him famous.