Barry Manilow Says Keeping His Sexuality a Secret for Years Was a ‘Burden’ | Barry Manilow | Just Jared: Celebrity News and Gossip

Barry Manilow is revealing what it was like keeping his sexuality a secret for decades.

The 80-year-old singer game out as gay in a People cover story in 2017.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he recalled being in the closet and explained his fears about coming out.

Keep reading to find out what he said…

“I didn’t want my career to go away,” he told the magazine. “I love it. I’m grateful for it. But it was a burden to keep it quiet.”

Barry remembered, “I was always worried. Every interview: ‘They’re going to ask me whether I’m gay or not.’ Nobody ever did, by the way. They never asked me the $64 question.”

He mentioned speaking about his sexuality with music executive Clive Davis in the 1980s. (Clive came out as bisexual in 2013.)

“He said, ‘You know — Elton John came out as bisexual. No artist should ever do that. It’ll hurt your career,’” Barry said. “And it did hurt Elton for quite a while.”

However, the record producer claimed that they never had that chat.

“I never had that conversation with Barry,” Clive told THR. “We never went there. Had it come up, to analyze what the impact would be, I would have said it’s a risky proposition to a career. But we never had the conversation about whether he should come out because he never said to me that he was gay.”

Barry recently explained why he ultimately decided to come out in his 70s.