Barry Manilow Kept His Sexuality a Secret for This Sad Reason

Lauren Novak November 15, 2023

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 21: Barry Manilow performs during the first of his three — Ethan Miller/Getty Images

80-year-old Barry Manilow, known for his sensual songs, rose to fame in the ’70s and is still one of the most well-known singers in the world. Due to his fame, he kept his personal life a secret and only recently came out as gay in 2017 and revealed that he had been in a relationship with his manager Garry Kief for over 35 years.

Manilow had married his high-school sweetheart, Susan Deixler back in 1964. They divorced in 1966 and at the time, Manilow said that she was a perfect wife, but he was immature and left to pursue his music career to the fullest. Although he has now come out, he said that he was indeed in love with Deixler and his sexual orientation had nothing to do with the dissolution of their marriage.

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Manilow has revealed that he began a relationship with TV executive Garry Kief in 1978. Kief later became his longtime manager. They kept their relationship private for decades since Manilow has a lot of female fans, and he worried that revealing his personal life and his sexual orientation would affect his career negatively. However, news broke about their relationship after they wed in 2014 and Manilow finally opened up a few years later.

Despite Manilow’s fears, his fan base has been largely supportive of his marriage and personal life. Manilow said that he credits Kief for “saving his life.” He explained, “As my career exploded, it was just crazy. 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. But I met Garry right around when it was exploding. And I didn’t have to go back to those empty hotel rooms. I had somebody to cry with or to celebrate with. I wish that young people, that they don’t have to go back to those hotel rooms by themselves because you get yourself in trouble. I never did. But it was pretty lonely until I met Garry. And then it was fun.”