Barry Manilow has a net worth of $100 million as an American singer and producer. Manilow has established himself as one of the most influential musical icons of recent memory during a career spanning more than half a century.
Although Barry has a handful of significant singles of his own, he is also a well-known songwriter who has written hits for other musicians such as Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick.
He has 13 number-one hits to his credit, as well as 13 platinum albums. Six of his albums have also been certified multi-platinum. Recording jingles and songs for numerous TV ads contributes significantly to Barry’s net worth.
McDonald’s, Pepsi-Cola, and Band-Aid are just a few of the brands he’s worked with. However, his record sales account for the largest majority of his fortune. He has sold over 75 million records globally as of 2020, making him one of the world’s most commercially successful artists.
Early Life
Barry Alan Pincus, the son of Edna Manilow and Harold Pincus (who went by his own stepfather’s surname, Keliher), was born on June 17, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. Manilow’s father, Harry Pincus, was born to a Jewish father and an Irish-American Catholic mother, while Manilow’s maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. His Irish ancestors came from Limerick, Ireland.
Manilow grew up in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, graduating from the now-defunct Eastern District High School in 1961. He met Susan Deixler, who would later become his wife, while still in high school.
He attended City College of New York for a short time before enrolling in the New York College of Music. While he was a student, he also worked at CBS to help pay his bills. He went on to study Musical Theater at the Juilliard School of Performing Arts.
Legal Concerns
Barry sued a Los Angeles radio station in 1994, claiming that one of its advertising was tarnishing his reputation. The commercial boasted that their radio station was superior to others because it did not play Barry Manilow’s music. The radio station eventually agreed to remove the advertisement.
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In 1997, Manilow paid $5,000 to the American Tinnitus Association to settle another legal dispute. Judge Philip Espinosa filed a lawsuit against the musician, alleging that one of his shows was too loud. The music, according to Espinosa, created “continuous ringing” in his ears.
Relationships
In the past, Barry Manilow has had partnerships with both men and women. Susan Deixler, his high school sweetheart, was his first love, whom he married in 1964. Despite the fact that Manilow has always said that he sincerely loved Deixler, he ended their relationship after one year in order to concentrate solely on his musical profession.
Although Manilow has maintained that his attraction to Susan was genuine and that he did not leave the marriage because of his homosexual emotions, he would subsequently get romantically connected with men.
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Barry began dating Garry Kief, a TV executive, in 1978. This relationship lasted until 2014, when the couple was finally able to marry thanks to California’s legalization of same-sex marriage. He had previously kept his relationship with Kief a secret out of fear that his sexual orientation might offend his admirers, particularly his vast female audience.
Personal Life
In 1964, Manilow married Susan Deixler, his high school sweetheart. Manilow subsequently remarked that he loved his wife and that his desire to pursue a career in music, along with his lack of maturity, had put a strain on their relationship.
He divorced his “ideal bride” after only one year of marriage in order to pursue a “wondrous musical adventure.” Manilow attributes his confidence to leave everything behind and pursue a career in music to the answer he received from Playboy in December 1965.
“I asked a number of people what I should do, and everyone told me something different,” Manilow remarked. “I was finally desperate enough to write to the Playboy Advisor.” Deixler had the marriage dissolved in 1966. Despite his later long-term relationship with a man, Manilow declared in 2017 that he was in love with Deixler and that the dissolution of his marriage was not due to sexual orientation concerns.
In 1978, Manilow started dating TV executive Garry Kief, who would later become his manager. After same-sex marriage became legal in California in 2014, the two wedded. Until the marriage made headlines in 2015, they kept their relationship and his gay orientation covert.
Manilow was adamant about keeping his personal relationship with Kief private. When a friend of Manilow’s, Suzanne Somers, publicly revealed the private exchanging of vows at Manilow’s house in Palm Springs, the event became widely publicized.
Although no official documentation was filed, Manilow and Kief were said to have exchanged wedding bands as a symbol of their commitment. Manilow came out to his predominantly female fan following in April 2017, telling People that he had kept his sexual orientation a secret out of fear of disappointing them. When his admirers found out about the nuptials, they were ecstatic.