Barry Manilow explains why he waited decades to come out as gay

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.”

Garry Kief and Barry Manilow.
Garry Kief and Barry Manilow attend the 2016 Pre-Grammy Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 14, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Steve Granitz/WireImage

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.

Barry Manilow.

He was one of the most famous stars of the 80s, who surprised the audience not only with his acting but also with his dancing

As a youth, he had a deep interest for flying, but he surprised both himself and others by pursuing a completely different career path.

He talked on the significance of his wife to him and grieved her passing twenty-eight years after they were married.

After a great deal of tragedy, he is content with his kids and his life right now.

The father of this young kid was a tire shop owner and semi-professional football player who grew up in New Jersey. The young man, however, had little interest in pursuing either as a career.

Rather, he had assumed he would work at the airport as a ticket agent or luggage handler, having developed an interest in the field when his high school offered an aviation program. He did not, however, wind up in the aircraft industry.

He now acknowledges that he has never been patient, claiming that he lacked patience as a youngster, a teenager, and an adult. He revealed:

“Tell me to do something else if I hit 25 and I’m not making a mark in this business,” was my type of man.

The young man chose to try acting, much like his mother had done, rather than following in his father’s footsteps or continuing his love of aviation, which he had discovered at the age of fifteen.

Travolta John Grieving Kelly Preston
The young guy in question is John Travolta, who made his Hollywood debut at the age of eighteen. Throughout his career, he starred in numerous hit films, including “Grease,” “Look Who’s Talking,” and “Saturday Night Fever.”

John Travolta and Kelly Preston at the New York Friars Club dinner honoring them as "Man and Woman of the Year" in 1997 | Source: Getty Images

He met Kelly Preston, a fellow actor, during a screen test for a show called “The Experts,” and the two married during his career. Preston disclosed that she was unfaithful to her spouse during the time.

Preston and Travolta first crossed paths in 1989, and by 1991, Travolta had proposed to Preston. Nine months after Travolta’s proposal, the pair tied the knot and enjoyed a blissful 28-year marriage.

Sadly, Preston’s breast cancer death in 2020 marked the end of their love tale. Travolta, who was heartbroken by the passing, gave fans some advice and said:

“Letting someone experience their grief and not adding to it with your own is the most crucial thing you can do to support them during their time of mourning.”

He claimed that he was feeling constricted by the grief of others over his wife’s death and believed that it was imperative to find a private place to grieve.

These days, Travolta is all about making his kids’ lives better and being there for them as much as he can while they adjust to life without their mother. It is a loving parent he is.

How Does Travolta’s Life Currently Stand?
Two years after his wife’s death, Travolta spent Father’s Day with his kids this year. He posted a picture of himself on Facebook with his son, daughter, and dog curled up on the couch. He continued by wishing a happy Father’s Day to all of the “dedicated fathers.”

His admirers showered him with love and support in the comments, praising him as a fantastic father and expressing how nice it is to see him with his kids.

Travolta and Preston raised a lovely family, but they also suffered a great loss when their son passed away while on vacation in the Bahamas. Travolta is a fantastic parent to his two children right now, despite the sadness he has experienced throughout his life.

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