Barry Manilow Bravely Comes out as Gay After Decades in the Business

08/19/2017 09:36 pm EDT

Pop legend, Barry Manilow is opening up for the very first about coming out, finding love, and surviving showbiz for 50 years.

After giving the world timeless classics, the beloved music icon is opening up to PEOPLE about a secret he kept his whole life. At 73 years old, Manilow is finally opening up about his life, struggles and, for the first time, his sexuality.

Fiercely private, Manilow tells PEOPLE about his nearly 40-year romance with manager husband, Garry Kief, while sharing what his life was like growing up in Brooklyn.

Though he was in love with his high school sweetheart, Susan Deixler and married her shortly after graduating, Manilow says he was just not ready for marriage and maintains he wasn't struggling with his sexuality at the time of their one-year union.

"I was out making music every night, sowing my wild oats — I was too young. I wasn't ready to settle down," he said.

After skyrocketing to fame in 1974 with his pop-rock ballad "Mandy," Manilow met Kief, who soon become his manager and still holds that role today.

"He's the smartest person I've ever met in my life — and a great guy, too," Manilow said.

Friends and family reveal that there is an enormous comfort and trust between the two, but it wasn't always easy for the pair who have stayed together for 39 years.

Early on in their relationship, Kief had struggles with Manilow's fame, all while the two remained mum on his sexuality. The legendary "Copacabana" singer even dated once-rumored love interest Linda Allen during his relationship with Kief.

Manilow told PEOPLE he's always been hesitant to discuss their relationship and to come out publicly, even after marrying Kief in a secret ceremony at their 53-acre Palm Springs estate in April 2014.

In 2015, news of their marriage and Manilow's sexuality made headlines — something the legend calls "a blessing and a curse."

When considering his fans, Manilow says he thought he would "be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything."

As it turns out, when many of them discovered he found true love in Kief, they were so happy. "The reaction was so beautiful — strangers commenting, 'Great for you!' I'm just so grateful for it."

[H/T: Instagram / @barrymanilowofficial]

This story first appeared at Womanista.

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