According to CNN, “I Write the Songs” singer Barry Manilow is gay. In fact, Manilow has been with the same man for almost 40 years. The King of love songs married his manager Garry Kief three years ago. At 73 years old, Manilow can finally be free about who he is and who he wants to love.
Why the long wait?
As Manilow told People magazine, fear of fans’ reactions kept the star tight-lipped on his sexuality. Unlike today’s generation of kids who can type in online support groups, such as GLSEN and the “It Gets Better Project,” Manilow’s career was budding at a time when being out and gay was still a challenge.
It was the 1970’s and the public knowing one was gay could ruin a celebrity’s career. At that point, the Feminist Movement was just starting to gain in power, and Harvey Milk had not yet become San Francisco’s first gay mayor.
In 1974, Manilow scored his first number hit with his song “Mandy,” a tune about a woman who had gotten away. From there, Manilow’s list of hits just soared with songs such as “Weekend in New England” and “Even Now.” He earned a Grammy for his disco song “Copacabana” in 1979. He won 3 more Grammy’s a few years ago.
Manilow joins long line of ‘late bloomer’ gay celebrities
While Manilow was married to Susan Diexler in his early college days, Manilow met Kief, the love of his life in 1978 and has been with him ever since.
Manilow’s choice to come out as gay at the older age of 73 is a new Hollywood trend. Arista Record’s president Clive Davis, who worked with Manilow on the same label, came out as bisexual in 2013. Davis was 80 years old and had been with a man for a few years. Meredith Baxter Bernie, who played Elyse Keaton on the 1980’s show “Family Ties,” revealed that she was a lesbian and dating a woman in 2009 on the “Today” show.
Then 63 years old, Bernie was with Nancy Locke, whom she wed in 2013.
Two years ago, actress Holland Taylor confessed that she had a younger significant other, who happened to be female. 72 years old at the time, Taylor was dating “American Horror Story’s” Sarah Paulson, who is about three decades her senior. The relationship is still going strong today. Manilow’s coming out story is just another example of celebrities who come out later in life.
Barry Manilow’s newest album “This is My Town” is slated to hit store shelves at the end of April.
