EXCLUSIVE: Inside Barry Manilow's Loves, Losses and His Successful Career — As Legendary Singer, 82, Battles Lung Cancer

Barry Manilow's road to success and true love has had a few bumps along the way, from his struggles with sharing his sexuality publicly to his ongoing battle with lung cancer amid his decades-long career.

As the legendary singer's 83rd birthday approaches on Wednesday, June 17, RadarOnline.com revisits his incredible life and work.

Manilow grew up with little money, but a lot of love.

Abandoned by his father as a baby, his stepfather, Willie Murphy, helped raise him and bestow a passion for music in his heart. He began learning to play both the piano and the accordion as a young child, and at one point, his parents put together what little cash they had to buy him his own spinet piano.

By the time he was in high school, he met another person who would greatly affect at least that period his life – his future wife, Susan Deixler.

"She was adorable, small with great legs and a voluptuous figure,” Manilow said. “Jet-black hair, dark brown eyes and a smile that lit up the room."

Although Manilow may or may not have had an inkling about his sexuality then, times were still very different in the early 1960s.

A former classmate noted, "It was a difficult thing to be gay at high school in 1961, not a good thing to broadcast."

Manilow did what other men his age did. He married Susan, then 19, when he was 21. But a lifelong relationship between them just wasn't meant to be. Their marriage was annulled in 1966.

As his romantic life took a downward turn, his career shot up. He penned a number of scores and commercial jingles – including for major companies like State Farm and Band-Aid – before signing with Columbia Records in the late 1960s.

His hit songs rolled in, but he was "pretty lonely," until he met his would-be manager and one-day husband, Garry Kief.

"Garry is a businessman, and Barry is an artist," a friend spilled. "They have two totally different mindsets, but that’s why they’re good together."

Despite the fact that they did begin their romantic relationship at that time, Manilow didn't publicly confirm he was gay until decades later. In 2017, the Mandy singer finally came out of the closet – and he confirmed he'd been married to Kief for three years!

"The reaction was so beautiful — strangers commenting, ‘Great for you!’" Manilow said of his fans' response to his sexuality. "I’m just so grateful for it."

According to a source, Manilow's life has changed wildly for the better since his days as a "tall and skinny" kid with "thick braces" in high school when he met his ex-wife.

"What a difference 50 years makes," the source added. "Now, Barry is one of the most popular musicians in the world, and he married a man!"

Last year, Manilow confirmed he'd been diagnosed with lung cancer.

"You just don’t even think about [how fragile life is]. And suddenly, you have lung cancer," he told People in March. "But I’m still here. I’m not all here; there’s part of me that isn’t here — they took out a part of me, and now I’ve got to figure out, ‘What do I do?’"

"They don’t even know how long I had this thing sitting on me. It could have been years," he continued. "If it had gone any further, then I would be up s---’s creek. It just so happened that it hadn’t spread, and boy oh boy, I thought I might be dying."

But despite still riding over those bumps in the road with his health, as Radar previously reported, he's stayed determined to keep playing music however he can.

"Since the surgery, I can't go on the road," he said. "Ninety minutes of screaming in tune, which is what I do for a living – I'm not up for that yet. I will be, but it's taking a long time to get my voice back ... So these days, I get up, I go to my piano and I try to be creative. Before I know it, the afternoon's over."