Daily Mail
Revealed: Barry Manilow quietly married his longtime manager Garry Kief in ‘surprise’ wedding last year
By RACHEL MCGRATH FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 16:54 EST, 8 April 2015 | UPDATED: 02:24 EST, 9 April 201
Barry Manilow married his longtime manager Garry Kief in a secret ceremony last year, it has been revealed.
The Copacabana singer, 71, who has not publicly addressed his sexuality, wed at his Palm Springs home in California in front of around 50 guests, the National Enquirer reports.
‘It was a total surprise,’ a friend tells the publication.
A source told People that the small group had only been told they were attending a luncheon
.People quotes a source close to the entertainer who said that Barry and Garry ‘are committed to one another and have been for a very long time.’
‘They have a great relationship. Garry has always been there for Barry.’
So far, there’s been no official word from Barry or his representatives on the subject.
While the longtime partners now both wear wedding bands, the National Enquirer reports that no paperwork has been filed to formalize the marriage.
Apparently, the star who has millions of female fans around the world, was worried that if they made their union official, word would leak out about his sexuality and that his fans wouldn’t approve of him being gay.
But an insider told People that he 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.’
According to the National Enquirer, the Could It Be Magic crooner’s longtime friend and Palm Springs neighbor Suzanne Somers was the best man at the ceremony and Marc Hulett, who’s been Barry’s assistant since the 1980s, oversaw the proceedings after he registered online to become a minister.
The tabloid reports that Gary was once married to a woman with whom he has a daughter but that he and Barry have been together for more than 30 years.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Garry has served as President of Barry Manilow Productions and Stiuletto Entertainment Group since April 1981.
In addition to producing television specials and documentaries starring his now husband, Garry also has a strong of reality shows and documentaries that he’s developed and made through Stiletto Television including Treehouse Masters, Taxidermy USA, Extreme Christmas Trees and Extreme Cougar Wives.
He also manages the career of Lorna Luft, Liza Minelli‘s half-sister through Stiletto Entertainment and produces live shows for cruise ships, and he’s a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
Brooklyn native Barry, whose birth name was Barry Alan Pincus, was also once married to a woman.
In his 1987 autobiography Sweet Life, he makes a fleeting reference to falling in love with his high school sweetheart.
Her name was Susan Deixler and they married in a civil ceremony followed by a Jewish wedding in front of a Rabbi.
But less than a year later, Barry, who was 21, apparently decided he was too young to be tied down and moved out of their apartment and out of the marriage in order to focus on his music career.
Susan responded by seeking an annulment of their marriage, which legally meant it had never happened.
Barry fiercely guards his private life and when he’s not on the road, these days he retreats behind the gatesof his 64-acre Palm Springs hideway.
He has never publicly spoken about his sexuality although he has been the subject of rumors over the years.
‘I am a private guy,’ the superstar said in a 2012 interview with UK newspaper The Telegraph.
‘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/press thing. You just say, ”˜I’m not interested in talking about [that],’ he said. ‘That’s the only way I can survive…… I don’t want strangers knowing everything. If that happened, that would drive me crazy.”
Since finding fame, Barry has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the greatest artists of all time.
He’s had a strong of hit singles and multi-platinum albums and in 1978, five of his albums were in the best-seller charts at the same time.
His hits include I Write The Songs, Can’t Smile Without You, Even Now, Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again and It’s a Miracle.
His songs of love and yearning have garnered him hundreds of million of fans and many awards since his breakthrough hit Mandy in 1974.
Barry was discovered first by Bette Midler who hired him in 1971 to accompany her on the piano and serve as her musical director.
A couple of years later, under Clive Davis’s new label Arista Records, his second album Barry Manilow II, that featured Mandy, One Voice and This One’s For You, catapulted him to international fame.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, he enjoyed phenomenal success with sell-out concerts and high-rated TV specials and his song Copacabana was used as the basis for a musical.
His early 80’s hits included The Old Songs, I Made It Through The Rain and Read ‘Em And Weep.
He has continued to release new albums and has had two hugely successful Las Vegas residencies in the last few years.
He is currently touring the U.S. with his Manilow – One Last Time! show.
The singer and songwriter does a lot of charity work and was one of the first stars to commit to helping the late Elizabeth Taylor when she first began trying to raise awareness of AIDS and raise money for HIV/AIDS research.
