During a guest appearance on HBO’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, the 80-year-old Copacabana singer said he didn’t think it was important to announce his sexuality during the earlier decades of his career.
Manilow came out in 2017, almost three years after he married his husband and manager Garry Kief in a private ceremony. The couple have been together for 45 years now, though they’ve kept much of their relationship away from the public eye.
When he came out to People magazine in 2017, Manilow — whose real name is Barry Pincus — worried he’d be “disappointing” some of his fans by revealing his sexuality. Instead, Manilow, who was 73 at the time, said the reaction from his fanbase was “beautiful.”
Despite his current feelings of nonchalance about his own coming out, Manilow said announcing his sexuality as his career was booming would have been a bad idea.
“Now being gay is no big deal,” he explained. “Back in the ’70s it would have killed a career.”
Regardless, the usually very private Manilow said he thinks “everybody knew that Garry and I were a couple all those years.”
“Really, Garry and I’ve been together for so long,” he said. “It just never dawned on me that we’re going to come out. But when we got married, it was a big deal, so we did.”
Manilow credited Kief for saving his life. He said he is thankful he had Kief to support him as his music career was taking off, despite keeping their relationship under wraps.
“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’re alone night after night after night,” Manilow explained. “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.”
Manilow said he did not wish an isolated hotel room for any young people.
“It was pretty lonely until I met Garry. And then it was fun,” he smiled.
Kief is not Manilow’s first spouse. In 1964, Manilow married his high school sweetheart, Susan Deixler. They were married for one year.
Manilow told CNN’s Wallace he “really did love” Deixler, but added “the gay thing was pretty, pretty strong. I couldn’t deny it.”
The singer said he knew he was gay before marrying Deixler, but their marriage ended because Manilow couldn’t be the committed husband his then-wife needed. He revealed that his sexuality was not the reason his marriage failed.
“We had a very nice marriage, it was great, but I was away every night making music, as a young musician would be,” Manilow described. “It wasn’t good for me, and it wasn’t good for her.”
“I couldn’t be the proper husband,” he continued. “I was out making music every night, sowing my wild oats. I wasn’t ready to settle down.”
Brooklyn-born Manilow skyrocketed to international fame in 1974 after his release of the ever-popular pop-rock ballad Mandy. He became one of the biggest-selling musicians of all time. Prior to his success as a singer-songwriter, Manilow was behind a number of famous commercial jingles for brands like State Farm and Band-Aid — a gig that he has said helped him create catchy hooks for his own hit songs.
91-Yr-Old TikTok Star Wears Mini-Skirts And Dances For Her Followers
On TikTok or any other social media platform, you frequently see people dancing while wearing high heels and miniskirts. Maybe you’ve seen this yourself, but Betsy Lou doesn’t look quite like what you had in mind.
Everyone wants to make the most of life, and Betsy Lou is someone who personally feels strongly about that. She broke preconceptions as a grandma and became popular on TikTok. Who knows, maybe she’s just enjoying herself and not afraid at all.
Betsy Lou’s passion for dancing isn’t the only thing that makes her appealing; she also possesses a certain sense of style that one would expect from a granddaughter or even great granddaughter. She frequently appears in flashy outfits and short skirts.
On TikTok, Betty Lou has become into a bit of a Dan sensation in addition to being a style icon. It’s even more fascinating to watch because she really adores playing the piano, which she does so well.
She is undoubtedly a multi-talented woman, as you can see when you browse through her social media pages. She may appear to be dancing and showing off her moves at any point, but the 91-year-old said that the piano will play lovely music.
Betty Lou is definitely someone to keep an eye on, and her actions will probably cause her to become viral in the future. Just remember that she is who she is and doesn’t care who knows it, so don’t try to make her change who she is or how she looks.
Leave a Reply