Barry Manilow Is Married to the Manager Who Helped Build His Career

In the world of celebrity relationships, the general rule is that they burn out fast. But that's not the case for everyone. Take, for instance, Barry Manilow. The famed crooner is known for his Las Vegas shows and hit songs such as "Copacabana," "Can't Smile Without You," and more. But he's also noteworthy for his storybook romance with his spouse.

Barry and his spouse have known each other since 1978, but they didn't tie the knot until much, much later. Here's what we know about the man Barry married and how their relationship came to be.

In 1964, Barry married his high school sweetheart, Susan Deixler, per The Mirror. They were only married until 1966 before calling it quits. For the next decade, Barry focused on his career, releasing his first hit song in the 1970s.

Then, in 1978, he met a man named Garry Kief, who would become his manager and later, his husband.

In an interview with People, Barry shared what it was like meeting Garry: “I knew that this was it. I was one of the lucky ones. I was pretty lonely before that. … Garry didn’t know what I did, even though I had all these records out. He was a guy, and I was a guy, so we could just deal with each other like two normal people, not like a superstar and a person.”

The two fell quickly in love and were together thereafter.

They married in secret in 2014, and Barry later publicly came out as gay in 2017. He joked that he was almost insulted by the public's reaction to his coming out, telling the New York Post, "You know, it was a non-event. I was kind of insulted. I thought it was gonna be a big deal." He added, "Oh my God, it was nothing. Nobody said anything about it.” He felt that fans were just glad he had "somebody to come home to."

And he certainly seems to. After more than 40 years together, the two are still going strong.

The two make a power team, both in their careers and in their private lives.

A friend of the couple, actor Suzanne Somers, told People, "It helps that Garry is devastatingly handsome. I still see Barry looking at him with his sparkling, periwinkle-blue eyes, and it’s clear their decades-long love is here to stay.”

While that's certainly true, Garry has some other pretty impressive characteristics, such as his love for charity.

In 2020, he was a Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards Honoree, noted by the community of Palm Springs, Calif., for his efforts in providing health services to those in the community living under the poverty line and helping to meet the gap for school funding in local schools.

In an interview with NBC Palm Springs, Garry shared that he was "very uncomfortable" about being in front of a camera, joking that he's a "behind-the-scenes guy," which makes him a perfect balance to Barry's showy, extroverted personality.

While those "in it for the long haul" relationships may be a rarity in Hollywood, Barry and Garry prove that it's not impossible.