Barry Manilow says he’s gay, kept sexuality secret due to fear of ‘disappointing fans’

NEW YORK — Barry Manilow tells People magazine that he hid being gay for decades because he thought he would be “disappointing fans if they knew,” the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Manilow, 73, also revealed he married his longtime manager, Gary Kief, in a 2014 ceremony at their home in Palm Springs. Manilow tells the magazine’s April 17 issue that keeping their romance out of the media was stressful.

Manilow, who has a new album this month, “This Is My Town: Songs of New York,” said he has always tried to keep his personal and public lives separate.

“When I met Gary, that was even more of a reason to keep my life private,” Manilow told People.

“I’m glad he stayed,” said the singer of such hits as “Mandy” and “Can’t Smile Without You.”

About the author

Phillip Zonkel

Award-winning journalist Phillip Zonkel spent 17 years at Long Beach's Press-Telegram, where he was the first reporter in the paper's history to have a beat covering the city's vibrant LGBTQ. He also created and ran the popular and innovative LGBTQ news blog, Out in the 562.

He won two awards and received a nomination for his reporting on the local LGBTQ community, including a two-part investigation that exposed anti-gay bullying of local high school students and the school districts' failure to implement state mandated protections for LGBTQ students.

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