Barry Manilow explains why he didn't publicly come out as gay until he was 73
Singer Barry Manilow has gotten candid in a recent interview and explained why he didn’t feel the need to go public with his sexuality for decades.
Manilow only officially 'went public' with the news that he was gay when he was 73 in 2017, despite being in the limelight as a popular singer for years.
In a recent interview, Manilow addressed what went wrong with his first marriage to his high school sweetheart Susan Deixler as they were only married for a year.
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He also explained how important his now-husband, Garry Kief, has been to him and in a way 'saved his life'.
Speaking to CNN’s Chris Wallace in an episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace that aired on Friday, Manilow explained how his relationship with Kief developed and what his fears were regarding coming out in the 1970s.
“I was very happy being married to [Susan] and I really did love her, but the gay thing was pretty strong, I couldn’t deny it.” Manilow said.
Wallace said: “In 1978 you met Garry Kief who became your manager and is now your husband. I understand everyone’s coming out story is different but you didn’t officially announce all this until 2017 and I wonder why it took so long."
“I think it was a non-event for me, Gary and I had been together for so long,” Manilow replied.
"It never dawned on me to ‘come out’. When we got married it was a big deal.”
“Gary actually kind of saved my life because as my career exploded, it was crazy. Going back to an empty hotel room you can get into a lot of trouble if you are all alone night after night.
“I met Gary right around when it was exploding and I didn’t have to go back to those empty hotel rooms and I had someone to cry with and celebrate with.”
Manilow did add that he did not feel comfortable sharing his personal life back in the 70s but remarked that things have changed since then.
“It wasn’t the same as it is today,” he said. “Now being gay is no big deal. But back in the ’70s, it would have killed a career. And Clive [Davis] kind of told me that in his own way, ‘Don’t do that'.”
Manilow added: “Frankly, it was just too personal. I just didn’t want to talk about my personal life anyway. I never did that. I was happy talking about music. But talking about my personal life was just kind of creepy to me. So I never did.”
Gerrard Kaonga