For Barry Manilow, it all began when he decided to follow his ambition of being an entertainer. He became interested in music after his stepfather Willie Murphy and mother Edna saved approximately $800 for him to purchase a piano over a five-year period. It was money well spent, since Barry went on to have a successful career lasting several decades.
Barry enrolled at the City College of New York prior to attending the New York College of Music. He then studied musical theater at the Juilliard School before starting work as a log clerk at CBS.
During that time in his life, he fell in love with Susan Deixler, the girl he had fallen in love with in high school, and they were married at the age of just 21. His belief that he wasn’t ready to settle down just yet and that he was too focused on music caused the marriage to collapse after only about two years. “I was just not ready for marriage; I was out writing songs and sowing my wild oats every night.” The singer stated, “I was too young to be ready to settle down.”
Before Barry’s breakthrough, he wrote songs for commercials for many years. Fortunately, he was able to appear in a Dr. Pepper commercial that, in his words, “paid the rent for years.”
Barry told WHRB that the only way composers can compete for a commercial is to come up with the catchiest tune they can in fifteen seconds. If they can’t produce the best melody, another songwriter will get the commercial. “That’s how I got fortunate enough to write commercials.”
And it comes naturally to me to write catchy music. I just happen to enjoy doing it. So I started writing jingles, and since my songs were catchier than the other men’s, I won a lot of them.
“But it was tremendously helpful when I found myself composing pop songs, which as I said I never really thought about doing,” he said. “Pop music is all about catchy melodies, hooks, and choruses.It was incredibly useful to have learnt how to write pop songs while writing commercials, as I finally found myself creating pop songs.
His debut album, Barry Manilow, was published in 1973, although it wasn’t a big hit right away. With his single Daisy, he didn’t achieve success in the industry until a year later.Then came hits that went straight to the top of the charts, like the well-known I Write the Songs, Could It Be Magic, and Copa (At the Copa).
Barry had five albums and 10 No. 1 singles on the best-selling charts at the same time, just five years after he released his debut album. Day by day, his fan base increased to such an extent that he started referring to them as “Fanilows.”
For the better part of his life, Barry carried a weight, and at seventy-three, he decided to tell the world. Barry Manilow revealed that he had been seeing Garry Kief for nearly 40 years after coming out as gay. He admitted that the two had tied the knot in their mansion in Palm Springs back in 2014.
A few years after first meeting in 1978, the couple started dating. Even now, they remain together, with Garry holding the dual roles of Manager of Barry and President of Barry Manilow Productions.
According to Barry, “I knew that this was it” when they first met Garry. “I was one of the lucky ones because I was pretty lonely before that.”
In the past, being gay wasn’t as acceptable as it is today. Barry stated that he had previously kept his sexual orientation a secret out of respect for his career and apprehension about other people’s opinions. He is happy that he came out as gay today because, aside from his supporters’ adulation, nothing has changed.
Garry’s biological daughter Kristen was raised by the two of them together.
That’s the wonder of this relationship. Since our relationship is built on respect, we’ve never had arguments, Barry told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Garry is the smartest guy I’ve ever met. He’s a great manager. I take care of the music, he takes care of the business part of my career, and together we set our objectives. The tale of two men who lived for forty years is told.
“Maybe coming out will make people feel better.” Maybe it will demonstrate to some young people that success is possible for them as well. For us, it’s been an incredibly joyful love tale. We are still in contact with one another!
Additionally, the well-known artist was open about his multiple plastic surgery treatments. He isn’t afraid to acknowledge that he had surgery, but he doesn’t want to be referred to as the “Joan Rivers of the guys.”
When asked how he stays young on the British morning show This Morning, Barry said, “It’s just blind luck.” Don’t bring it up; I’m becoming old. It is really gloomy.
Even though it took a lot of courage for him to come out as gay at such a young age, Barry Manilow is happy that he did.
