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.

I highly doubt that the post will be read carefully or shared, but I will still make it.

Even though I have a very slim chance of the post being carefully read or shared, I will nevertheless publish it.

Of course, our gratitude and indignation would be overwhelming if the post contained pictures of cats or dogs, which the majority of us adore and take good care of.

But there are no photos of people in their underwear in the post.

Regretfully, our nation’s use of pesticides has resulted in thousands of dead bees. Sadly, this is where our life cycle ends.
We humans will not have more than four years left to live if bees vanish off the face of the Earth one day.

Why do bees rank as the most significant organisms on Earth?

Since we were young children, we have benefited from the exceptional qualities of bee products, and we are all aware of the enormous significance of bees in our daily lives. The following are the findings of research done on their existence:

In the most recent Royal Geographic Society discussion held in London, the Earthwatch Institute came to the conclusion that bees are the most significant living thing on Earth. But experts also declared that bees are now considered insects with a high risk of extinction in addition to this news.

“At most, humanity would only survive for four years if bees disappeared.”
-The late Albert Einstein

Recent studies show that bee populations have decreased by up to 90% globally, with regional variations in the causes. Massive deforestation, a lack of secure nesting locations, a shortage of flowers, careless pesticide usage, altered soil, and a decline in beekeepers are a few of the primary factors.

These insects are essential to almost 70% of global agriculture, and it may be argued that bees are responsible for 70 out of every 100 items that humans eat.

In addition, bee pollination is necessary for plant reproduction, which provides millions of animals with their primary food source. The fauna would eventually start to disappear without it.

Exist answers for this issue?

There are answers, but given the detrimental agricultural and production practices in Romania, they are difficult to apply in today’s society.

However, some expert ideas have been put out with the hopes of being put into practice as quickly as possible:

restricting the use of harmful pesticides, not just outlawing them. The recommendation is to switch to insecticides that don’t harm pollinators.

encouraging all-natural alternatives for farming.

investigating and keeping an eye on bee health, welfare, and conservation on a continuous basis.

encouraging initiatives that allow the public to assist beekeepers and contribute to the bee-saving effort, such as buying organic honey or participating in national initiatives like “Adopt a Hive.” You can take part in this kind of endeavor by using the initiative.

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