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Barry Manilow admitted hiding his sexuality was a “burden,” and he was “always worried.”<\/span> (Martin Schoeller\/NBC via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“Every interview, \u2018They\u2019re going to ask me whether I\u2019m gay or not.\u2019 Nobody ever did, by the way. They never asked me the $64 question.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
BARRY MANILOW, JENNY MCCARTHY HONOR SUZANNE SOMERS AS HOLLYWOOD MOURNS LOSS OF \u2018THREE\u2019S COMPANY’ STAR<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Grammy Award winner recalled an exchange that he said he had with Clive Davis in the 1980s during which the record producer noted that music legend Elton John’s career was damaged after he revealed his sexual orientation.<\/p>\n
“He said, \u2018You know, Elton John came out as bisexual. No artist should ever do that. It\u2019ll hurt your career,'” Manilow told the outlet.<\/p>\n
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Manilow came out as gay in 2017 and married longtime partner Garry Kief in 2014.<\/span> (Steve Granitz\/WireImage)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nJohn, 76, came out as bisexual at the age of 29 in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone. The “Bennie and the Jets” singer was a global rock star at the time. When he was 45 in 1992, John said he was “quite comfortable being gay” during another interview with Rolling Stone.<\/p>\n
Davis, 91, revealed that he was bisexual in his 2013 memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life.” The five-time Grammy Award winner, who was previously married to Janet Adelburg and Helen Cohen, wrote that he has had relationships with men since the late 1970s.<\/p>\n
LIKE WHAT YOU\u2019RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n However, Davis told The Hollywood Reporter he did not recall having the conversation that Manilow remembered.<\/p>\n
“We never went there,” Davis told the outlet. “Had it come up, to analyze what the impact would be, I would have said it\u2019s a risky proposition to a career. But we never had the conversation about whether he should come out because he never said to me that he was gay.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The singer recalled a conversation he had with Clive Davis about Elton John’s career after coming out.<\/span> (Bruce Glikas\/WireImage)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nManilow met his husband Garry Kief in 1978, and the two married in April 2014. The singer was previously married to his high school sweetheart Susan Diexler. The two tied the knot in 1964 but had their marriage annulled a year later.<\/p>\n
The singer explained his decision to hide his sexuality in a 2017 interview with People magazine during which he revealed that he was gay for the first time.<\/p>\n
During the interview, Manilow discussed his longtime romance with Kief. In 2015, reports of his sexuality and marriage to Kief first emerged, which he described as “a blessing and a curse.” He told People he kept his sexuality hidden out of fear that he would be letting down his fans.<\/p>\n
“I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So, I never did anything,” Manilow explained.<\/p>\n
However, Manilow shared that his fans were supportive when he came out.<\/p>\n
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Manilow and Kief first began dating in 1978.<\/span> (Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. The reaction was so beautiful \u2014 strangers commenting, \u2018Great for you!\u2019 I\u2019m just so grateful for it,” he said.<\/p>\n
The New York native told People he knew he had met the right person when he first started dating Kief.<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n “I knew that this was it,” Manilow recalled. “I was one of the lucky ones. I was pretty lonely before that.”<\/p>\n
Manilow said he has always wanted to keep his private life out of the spotlight.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m so private. I always have been,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Manilow feared coming out would disappoint his fans but said their reaction was “beautiful.”<\/span> (Arturo Holmes\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDuring a 2017 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Manilow opened up about being a stepfather to Kirsten Kief, 47, Kief’s daughter from a previous marriage.<\/p>\n
“We have a daughter, Garry\u2019s biological daughter, Kirsten, and we raised her together all these years,” the “Copacabana” singer said. “Kirsten\u2019s turned out to be one of the most beautiful and smartest women you\u2019ll ever meet.”<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n In an October interview with People, Manilow shared his joy over becoming a grandfather for the first time after Kirsten adopted a baby girl.<\/p>\n
“Garry\u2019s daughter Kirsten adopted a little girl, and so I\u2019m now a grandfather,” he said. “I\u2019ve never, ever thought about having a baby or having anything to do with [being] a father or any of that.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m watching this little girl \u2014 she\u2019s 2\u00bd \u2014 grow up and learn. This is a brand new experience for me, and I really am enjoying it.”<\/p>\n
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Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to ashley.hume@fox.com and on Twitter: @ashleyhume<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[ad_1] Barry Manilow opened up about keeping his sexuality a secret due to his fears coming out would jeopardize his career. During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 80-year-old singer, who revealed he was gay in 2017, shared that he struggled with hiding his sexual orientation for years. “I didn\u2019t want my career …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}