Barry Manilow's Love Life & Marriage Was Kept In Secrecy For 39 Years Because He Felt Fans Would Find Him 'Disappointing'

Sep 06, 2023

Barry Manilow is a pop legend who started his music career as a pop singer with the pop rock ballad "Mandy" in 1974. The American singer rose to fame after releasing more hit songs like "Copacabana (At the Copa)," "Looks Like We Made It," "Daybreak" and many others. Manilow has enjoyed a successful career for seven decades, and his name is known in all households by old and young.

Although Manilow was very public about his music career, he kept some part of his love life and marriage private. Part of his life, which the singer kept hidden from the public, was his second marriage, which he finally opened up about in 2017. In April 2017, Manilow revealed why he kept his relationship a secret for almost four decades.

Before getting married to his mysterious present long-time partner, the "It's a Miracle" singer was briefly married to Susan Deixler, who was his high school sweetheart. According to Express, Manilow opened up about his first marriage. In his memoir, "Sweet Life: Aventures on the Way to Paradise," Manilow wrote that he and Deixler met in Brooklyn at Eastern District High School. He also described her to be "adorable" and with a "smile that lit up the room." 

The singer shared that his friends believed he rushed into marriage. Still, he got married to Deixler in 1964, but the duo separated in 1965. The Grammy Award winner wrote in his memoir that although Deixler was a perfect wife, he was not ready to get married but wanted to go on a "wondrous musical adventure."

Manilow secretly got married again years after his marriage to Deixler. However, a year later, the secret got out that the singer got married to his long-term manager and partner Garry Kief, with whom he has been romantically and professionally involved for over 40 years. As of 1981, Kief became the president and CEO of Stiletto Entertainment and also the manager of Barry Manilow Productions. 

The duo met in 1978 when Manilow's hit "Copacabana" came out, and the singer was quick to realize he wanted to be with Kief. Although Kief has a daughter from his previous marriage, Manilow revealed in 2012 that they had no plans of having kids together. He shared:

"It was impossible. This insane world that I have and trying to be a father - I think I would have had to choose one or the other." He added, "The choice never really happened anyway." 

Manilow stated that the closest he got was raising dogs, and he gave them "a good eight or nine weeks just with me." Although not many people know of the singer's sexuality, in 2001, Patricia Butler wrote a biography of Manilow which contained references to his sexuality. 

At that time, the publisher, Chris Charlesworth, shared that he felt confident publishing the biography because people in the music industry were already aware "that Manilow was gay." The book also had a lot of quotes from friends and colleagues confirming that they were aware of his sexuality long before. 

Manilow and Kief tied the knot in a private wedding ceremony in April 2014 at their 53-acre Palm Springs estate, with close friends and family there to support them. 

Ever since the news of Manilow's secret marriage to Kief was revealed by Suzanne Somers, the pop icon opened up to People in 2017 about his love life and sexuality for the first time. During the exclusive interview at Palm Springs, the singer shared that he was a private person. He also shared his thoughts about when he first met Kief. He revealed:

"I knew that this was it. I was one of the lucky ones. I was pretty lonely before that." He also added, "He's the smartest person I've ever met in my life — and a great guy, too."

Manilow revealed why he kept his sexuality a secret after being romantically involved with Kief for 39 years. Even while he was dating Kief, he stepped out with Linda Allen to divert attention from his actual love interest. The singer shared that he had always been hesitant to talk about his relationship and to publicly come out. When it was revealed that he was gay in 2015, the pop icon shared that it was both "a blessing and a curse." 

He further explained that his reason for keeping quiet was his fans because "most of all, I want them to be proud of me as a human being." He later explained to People:

"I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything, fortunately, When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. The reaction was so beautiful." 

Manilow and Kief are happily married and share Kief's daughter, whom he had from a previous marriage. 

Isn't Barry Manilow and Garry Kief's love story fascinating? What do you think of their decades-long relationship? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to other Barry Manilow fans.