Barry Manilow Feared Coming Out As Gay Would ‘Disappoint’ Fans
Barry Manilow. Image by Getty Images
Barry Manilow has spoken publicly for the first time about being gay, saying he feared he would disappoint his mostly female fan base had he come out decades ago.
The “Can’t Smile Without You” singer, now 73, talked with People magazine and Entertainment Tonight about his previously secret, almost 40-year romance with husband Garry Kief.
“I thought I would be disappointing them (fans) if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything,” Manilow told People in an interview released on Wednesday.
New York-born Manilow and his manager Kief had been together for years before marrying quietly in Palm Springs, California, in 2014.
“When they found out that Garry and I were together, they (the fans) were so happy. The reaction was beautiful – strangers commenting ‘Great for you!’ I’m just so grateful for it,” the singer told People.
Manilow said he met Kief in 1978, just a few years after he skyrocketed to fame with romantic ballads like “Mandy” and “Looks Like We Made It.”
“Everybody knows that we’re a team. Everybody that I know knows. So it never really dawned on me to say anything about it,” he said.—Reuters
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
