Three years after his secretive wedding in Palm Beach, multi-platinum megastar Barry Manilow finally shared the news with his fans Wednesday, revealing his relationship with longtime partner and manager Garry Kief.
He told People magazine in an exclusive interview that he feared revealing he was gay for decades at the risk of disappointing his fans, but said their reaction has been “so beautiful. “
“Strangers commenting, ‘Great for you,'” Manilow, 73, told the magazine. “I’m just so grateful for it.”
Now we’re looking back on the decades-spanning career that made Manilow a household name and among the all-time great entertainers.
Manilow, born in Brooklyn in 1943, attended New York College of Music, during which time he worked at CBS to pay for his expenses. Later, Manilow, born Barry Alan Pincus, studied musical theater at Juilliard.
While he worked odd jobs in the industry, like writing jingles and producing music for television shows, his career as a performer didn’t take flight until he met Bette Midler in the early 1970s. The pair performed bath houses, and he eventually assisted Midler with the production of her first and second albums.
After a string of flopped single and album releases, Manilow’s release of “Mandy” in 1974 flew to the top of the charts. The following year, Manilow met Dick Clark, and appeared a number of times on the host’s New Year’s “Rockin’ Eve” productions, “American Bandstand” and at the American Music Awards. They also collaborated on the 1985 film “Copacabana.”
Manilow has headlined Broadway a number of times, and had several residencies in Las Vegas. From 2005 to 2009, he headlined the Las Vegas Hilton; currently, Manilow is headlining the Paris hotel in Vegas, a role he has held since 2010.
