Barry is gay

He described his decision to come out in People magazine six years ago as "a non-event". And, you know, going back to an empty hotel room, you can get into a lot of trouble if you, you know, you're alone night after night after night," he explained.

I wrote an off-Broadway musical called the Drunkard. I wouldn't say nervous breakdown, but it was definitely a problem for me. And then it was fun. I just couldn't be a husband. However, he said the marriage ended because of a lack of commitment, rather than his sexuality.

At the time, he said his fans' response to the announcement had made it a "beautiful experience". Manilow, whose real name is Barry Pincus, is one of the biggest-selling musicians of all time, thanks to slick, orchestrated hits like Mandy, Looks Like We Made It and Copacabana.

I was just away making music with a band. He also revealed that he came up with the concept for Copacabana while recovering from his "first nervous breakdown" at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro in When Wallace pressed him for details, Manilow said he was "just kidding" about the breakdown, but admitted that fame had affected his mental health.

Barry Manilow came out : Barry Manilow reflected on keeping his sexuality private during his career, and why he was 'always worried' about it being made public

Barry Manilow has admitted he "never even thought" about questioning his sexuality until he met his future husband. Barry Manilow came out as gay inthree years after he married long-term partner Garry Kief. A born showman, he is still hard at work in his eighth decade, opening a new Broadway musical and starring in a recently-announced Christmas TV special.

Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow says he did not discuss his sexuality for gay boyfriend because it could have ended his career. I had somebody to cry with or to celebrate with.

Singer Barry Manilow came out of the closet Wednesday at age 73, saying he kept silent on his nearly four-decade relationship with a man to avoid disappointing fans. And I didn't have to go back to those empty hotel rooms. The Brooklyn-born singer has been in a relationship with his manager Garry Kief for 39 years.

Asked by Wallace if he had felt pressured to hide who he was, Manilow said he "never thought about it". And I was having a ball. Prior to his relationship with Kief, Manilow had married his childhood sweetheart, Susan Deixler, in The couple stayed together for one year, and the marriage was annulled in Reflecting on the relationship, he said he "really did love" his wife, but admitted "the gay thing was pretty, pretty strong".

The star, who came out publicly intold CNN's Chris Wallace that "the public was not ready for anybody to come out" as gay in the s. He is currently in the 14th year of a Las Vegas residency and has concert dates scheduled until December His star began to rise in the middle of the s - and Manilow credited Kief with saving his life during those whirlwind years.

Elsewhere in the career-spanning interview, Manilow said his background in writing jingles had helped him in his musical career.

He added: "It was pretty lonely until I met Garry.