Barry Manilow believes coming out in the '70s and '80s would have 'killed' his career

Barry Manilow thinks coming out as gay earlier would have "killed" his career.

The Copacabana singer confirmed his sexuality in 2017 after decades of speculation and while he insisted he had never hidden the details of his personal life, he admitted he never discussed it in case it had a negative impact on his chart success.

Asked if the world looked at him differently after he came out, Barry - who married his manager and longtime partner Garry Kief in 2014 - told the Los Angeles Times newspaper: "It was a non-event. Nobody gave a s***.

"They all knew. I never really hid it, but in the ’70s and ’80s, that would have killed the career, and I didn’t want to do that. So I just never talked about it."

“Garry and I are just two guys that live in a house on a hill with two dogs that we love.”

Barry doesn't care about awards or celebrity parties because he feels lucky to have such a wonderful life with his husband.

He said: "I’m very lucky — I live in the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen and I have the most wonderful partner that you can imagine. I’m grateful he’s chosen to share his life with me.

"We’ve been together for over 46 years, and we still laugh and we still love each other. That’s the greatest award I’ll ever get.”