Barry Manilow Opens Up About His Early Days Playing in a Gay Bathhouse

In a new interview, out musical icon Barry Manilow recalled his early days as a performer putting on shows – together with Bette Midler – at The Continental bathhouse in New York in the early 1970s.

The 80-year-old singer, who has enjoyed a six-decade career as a top recording artist, opened up to The Hollywood Reporter, with Midler also chiming in to recall how the two met and what it was like performing in the bathhouse.

"While Manilow admitted that it was an 'unusual' venue – as it was also known to be a sex club, and men frequently watched performances in the cabaret either completely nude or with just a towel – he also said, 'For me, it was a job for 75 bucks,'" People Magazine recapped.

As for whether playing to a nude, gay audience kick-started Manilow's awareness of being gay, "At that point I wasn't sure about that," Manilow told THR's Seth Abramovitch. "There were a lot of us in the world that had yet to figure it out."

When Abramovitch pressed with, "I mean, the show was literally in a gay bathhouse," Manilow answered with a great comeback.

"What do you think, they were fucking in front of us?" the singer rejoined. "They were just an audience. A great audience, too."

THR also spoke with Midler, who recounted how, in 1971, Steve Ostrow, the entrepreneur behind the Continental Baths, arranged for her to meet Manilow since she needed an accompanist for her shows at the bathhouse.

"He sent me down to No Man's Land – Lexington, somewhere in the 20s – and I went up to meet Barry," Midler recalled to THR. "I quickly discovered he could play anything. He could arrange anything. He could make anything funny – or sad. He had a tremendous amount of tools at his disposal.

"He had a great ear," Midler added, "and just so much charm."