Barry Manilow speaks candidly about his sexuality

While his songs and his jingles remain a big part of many people's lives, his own life has been a closed book.

Barry Manilow has finally opened up about why he stayed in the closet so long and the love of his life.

The fiercely private 73-year-old has spoken to People about being gay and his secret wedding to manager Garry Kief.

Barry Manilow with his manager and now husband Garry.  Photo/Getty Images

The Mandy star has revealed he felt pressure to seem like he was straight as he felt some fans would be upset if they knew he was gay.

For 39 years he has quietly been in love with a man, now husband and still manager Garry, 68.

The singer told People: 'I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything.'

With tears in his eyes, Barry said he was overwhelmed that when fans did find out they did not push him away.

'When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. The reaction was so beautiful - strangers commenting, ''Great for you!'' I'm just so grateful for it.'

But it took a long time to get to that point, with Barry often linked to TV production assistant Linda Allen.

In fact, the singer even lived with Linda during his relationship with Garry and Barry still refuses to talk about his love life before Garry - aside from his first wife.

The pair went to great lengths to keep their relationship private, not just because the star was weary about revealing his sexuality, but also because his love was not sure he was ready to deal with the fame.

After a concert early in their relationship: 'I got into the car with him and [fans] were rocking the car. He was like ''I can't handle this. It's not for me.'''
But the ABC TV executive stayed and stayed for four decades.

Barry told People he knew from the day he met the Texas-native in 1978 that he was the one.

'I knew that this was it. I was one of the lucky ones. I was pretty lonely before that. When you're that big you don't meet many people.

'But Gary didn't know what I did, even though I had all these records out. He was a guy, I was a guy, so we could deal with each other like two normal people, not like a superstar and a person.'

Praising the man who would quickly make his manager, Barry said: 'He's the smartest person I've ever met in my life - and a great guy too.'

While Garry became his manager - and remains his manager quickly - getting down the aisle took over three decades.

'We've been married all these years. It's just that it became legal.'

The pair wed in 2014 in a 'clandestine wedding' on the Palm Springs property.

The singer said: 'I didn't think I was going to be that emotional. It was deeper than we thought it was going to be saying ''I love you'' in front of people.'

But this was not his first trip down the aisle, of course, as he was married to his high school sweetheart Susan Deixler.

The pair made it to their first wedding anniversary before splitting - something he insists had nothing to do with his sexuality.

'I was in love with Susan, I just was not ready for marriage. I was out making music every night, sowing my wild oats - I was too young. I wasn't ready to settle down.'

This story originally appeared on dailymail.co.uk and is published here with permission.