Barry manillow gay

Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow says he did not discuss his sexuality for years because it could have ended his career. The star, who came out publicly intold CNN's Chris Wallace that "the public was not ready for anybody to come out" as gay in the s. The Brooklyn-born singer has been in a relationship with his manager Garry Kief for 39 years.

Asked by Wallace if he had felt pressured to hide who he was, Manilow said he "never thought about it". He described his decision to come out in People magazine six years ago as "a non-event". At the time, he said his fans' response to the announcement had made it a "beautiful experience".

Manilow, whose real name is Barry Pincus, is one of the biggest-selling musicians of all time, thanks to slick, orchestrated hits like Mandy, Looks Like We Made It and Copacabana. A born showman, he is still hard at barry manillow gay in his eighth decade, opening a new Broadway musical and starring in a recently-announced Christmas TV special.

He is currently in the 14th year of a Las Vegas residency and has concert dates scheduled until December His star began to rise in the middle of the s - and Manilow credited Kief with saving his life during those whirlwind years. And, you know, going back to an empty hotel room, you can get into a lot of trouble if you, you know, you're alone night after night after night," he explained.

And I didn't have to go back to those empty hotel rooms. I had somebody to cry with or to celebrate with. He added: "It was pretty lonely until I met Garry. And then it was fun. Prior to his relationship with Kief, Manilow had married his childhood sweetheart, Susan Deixler, in The couple stayed together for one year, and the marriage was annulled in Reflecting on the relationship, he said he "really did love" his wife, but admitted "the gay thing was pretty, pretty barry manillow gay.

However, he said the marriage ended because of a lack of commitment, rather than his sexuality. I was just away making music with a band. I wrote an off-Broadway musical called the Drunkard. And I was having a ball.

Barry Manilow feared disappointing fans if he had come out as gay

I just couldn't be a husband. Elsewhere in the career-spanning interview, Manilow said his background in writing jingles had helped him in his musical career. He also revealed that he came up with the concept for Copacabana while recovering from his "first nervous breakdown" at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro in When Wallace pressed him for details, Manilow said he was "just kidding" about the breakdown, but admitted that fame had affected his mental health.

I wouldn't say nervous breakdown, but it was definitely a problem for me. Skip to content. Barry Manilow explains why he kept his sexuality a secret for decades. Share Save. Barry Manilow has sold more than 85 million albums over the course of his career.