Barry Manilow Kept His Gay Wedding Secret To Avoid Fan Disapproval
According to numerous sources, pop icon Barry Manilow secretly married his long time partner and manager Garry Kief at a private ceremony in April 2014. According to the Daily Mirror the ceremony took place at Manilow’s 64-acre multi-million dollar home in Palm Springs, California in front of around 50 specially invited guests who had attended believing that they had been invited to a special lunch.
Barry Manilow has never spoken publicly about his sexuality and is known to be a very private person but the 71-year-old star is believed to have been in a relationship with Kief for over 30 years. According to the Daily Mail Barry Manilow and Garry Kief are both wearing wedding bands but they decided to keep the news of their marriage secret to avoid upsetting Barry’s millions of female fans. Barry was reportedly worried that some of his fans might disapprove of his being gay.
That said the Daily Mail goes on to claim that an insider told People that Barry went ahead and tied the knot with Garry because “he’s got his career and personal life in a great place and he really doesn’t care what people think. He’s in love and happy.”
According to Pink News Manilow’s nuptials were kept secret simply because that is how the star lives his life.
“Barry has lived a very secretive life and the wedding was no different. Barry and Garry did not tell friends or family that the occasion was their wedding… it was a beautiful wedding and consummated their lifelong love affair!”
Whilst there have been rumors about his sexuality in the past Barry Manilow is fiercely protective of his private life. According to the Daily Mail, Manilow spoke to the Telegraph about his need for privacy in an interview back in 2012.
Barry said, “I am a private guy, you can only come into my world if I invite you in. From the very beginning that was the rule. I learnt how to deal with the publicity thing. You just say, ‘I’m not interested in talking about [that].’ ‘That’s the only way I can survive, I don’t want strangers knowing everything. If that happened, that would drive me crazy.”
According to Time, Barry Manilow’s representatives have not made any comment about the wedding though the star was wearing a wedding ring when he appeared in a UK television interview last December.
Barry Manilow is currently on tour in the U.S. and has announced that the current tour will bring down the curtain on a music career that has spanned five decades.
[Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images]
