The tragic reason Barry Manilow kept his relationship secret for so many years

Barry Manilow has been entertaining audiences for more than five decades – admit it, people always sing along to “Copacabana” at weddings – and his legacy will live on. Most recently, Manilow realized his Broadway dreams when his original musical “Harmony” had a brief premiere in New York. It’s hard to believe that this popular artist would ever be afraid of being let down by his fans and the music industry. But for many years, Manilow hid the truth about his sexuality to save his reputation and career.

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Today, the LGBTQ community has allies and being openly queer is less stigmatized. However, in the ’70s, when “Mandy” and “I Write the Songs” topped the charts, it was unthinkable for an artist to come out. Even the popular pianist Liberace, whose flamboyance was part of his appeal, denied being gay, although his close friends knew about it. It was the same with Manilow. Very reserved by nature, he remained silent about his love life so as not to affect his success or his relationship with his fans. “Today it’s not a big deal to be gay, but in the ’70s it would have destroyed a career. The public wasn’t prepared for someone to come out,” he told CNN’s Chris Wallace in 2023 (via The Guardian). In fact, many Fanilovs suspected the truth but were respectful enough not to make it public for fear that their favorite singer would become a victim of cancel culture.

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For years, it was assumed that Barry Manilow identified as cis, and his previous marriage seemed to confirm this. In high school, Manilow dated his classmate Susan Weixler and the two married shortly after graduating. The union only lasted a year, but sexuality had nothing to do with their breakup: “I just wasn’t ready for marriage,” Manilow admitted to People, explaining that he rushed into a relationship before he had the chance to do so.[sow] “After the split, the singer focused on his budding career and lived single until he met TV executive Garry Kief in 1978. It was an instant attraction. “I knew this was it,” Manilow told the outlet. “Garry didn’t know what I was doing even though I had all these records out. He was a guy and I was a guy, so we could just interact like two normal people, not like a superstar and a human being.

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They finally married in 2014, exchanging vows in front of a small group of 50 guests at their California estate. The late Suzanne Somers was her honorary attendant, and Manilow’s personal assistant Marc Hulett was ordained online so he could officiate.

In 2017, Manilow publicly confirmed his sexuality, which was already fairly well known at that point. “Honestly, Chris, it was a non-event,” he later told Chris Wallace (via Entertainment Weekly). “And when we came out… I think everyone knew that Garry and I had been a couple all these years.”