Barry Manilow Admits It Was a 'Burden' to Hide His Sexuality

Barry Manilow has admitted that it was a "burden" to hide being gay before finally coming out in 2017.

The 80-year-old singer opened up about his sexuality, and how he feared it would jeopardize his career, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

"I didn’t want my career to go away. I love it. I’m grateful for it. But it was a burden to keep it quiet," he said. "I was always worried."

Manilow added that he was constantly worried about being asked about his sexuality by the media.

"Every interview, they’re going to ask me whether I’m gay or not. Nobody ever did, by the way. They never asked me," he said.

The Grammy Award winner recounted a conversation he had with Clive Davis in the 1980s, during which the record producer suggested that Elton John's career had suffered after the music legend shared his sexual orientation.

"He said, ‘You know, Elton John came out as bisexual. No artist should ever do that. It’ll hurt your career,'" Manilow told the outlet.

However, Davis, who came out as bisexual in a 2013 memoir, told The Hollywood Reporter that he did not recall that conversation.

"I never had that conversation with Barry," he said. "We never went there. Had it come up, to analyze what the impact would be, I would have said it’s 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."

Manilow previously spoke during an episode of the "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?" podcast about his fears of coming out and how it might impact his music career.

"Well, in the '70s, you know, you didn't [come out]," Manilow told Wallace, according to Entertainment Weekly. "It wasn't the same as it is today. Now being gay is no big deal. But back in the '70s, it would have killed a career."

He continued: "The public was not ready for anybody to come out. And, frankly, it was just too personal. I just didn't want to talk about my personal life anyway. I never did that. I was happy talking about music. But talking about my personal life was just kind of creepy to me. So I never did."

When asked by Wallace whether he ever felt like he had to hide who he was, Manilow said he "never thought about it."

"Honestly, Chris, it was a non-event," Manilow said. "And when we came out, it was — I think everybody knew that Garry and I were a couple all those years."

Manilow and Garry Kief met in 1978, with Kief later taking on the role of the "Mandy" singer's manager. They tied the knot in 2014.