Barry Manilow has offered an update on his health afterward be diagnosed with lung cancer.
The Grammy Award winner, 82, shared a photo of himself smiling as he lay in a hospital bed on Friday, January 2. Alongside the photo, Manilow assured fans on Friday that he was “feeling better today.”
Manilow received positive messages and well wishes from her Instagram followers. Melanie TaylorManilow’s longtime backup singer, said “that’s my boss” in the comments.
“It’s beating the rain! I love you B,” Taylor continued.
Barry Manilow shares a selfie from his hospital bed
Courtesy of Instagram / Barry ManilowGuns N’ Roses and The Cult alum Matt Sorum she added: “Get well Barry, lots of love.”
“Sending lots of love Barry,” the icon drawls Coconut Peru he entered
On December 22, Manilow went public with his lung cancer diagnosis and confirmed that he would soon undergo surgery.
“As many of you know, I recently went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by another five week relapse. Even though I passed the bronchitis and got back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure everything was okay,” she shared via Instagram. “The MRI found a cancerous spot in my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news.”
The “Can’t Smile Without You” singer explained that he had to finish his annual Christmas concerts in December before scheduling a date to “take the place down.”
“The doctors don’t think it’s spread, and I’m running tests to confirm his diagnosis. So, that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and i love lucy replays,” he wrote.
The singer-songwriter announced that he needed “a month to recover” post-surgery, so he canceled concerts scheduled for January. (Manilow had headlined concerts in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Ohio this month.)
“I’m so sorry you had to change your plans,” she wrote to fans. “Like you, we were all looking forward to the January shows and hate having to move everything.”
Looking ahead, Manilow said he intends to return to the stage for his Valentine’s weekend concerts at the Westgate Las Vegas from February 12-14.
“Something tells me this weekend in February is going to be a big party!” Manilow concluded. “I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. And remember, if you have even the slightest symptom… get tested! See you at the Westgate Las Vegas for Valentine’s Day!”
Manilow has been open about his smoking habit over the years. he said The Evening Standard in 2012 that he had “smoked for 30 years”, after starting when he was only “9 years old”.
“Then I stopped about 15, 20 years ago,” he clarified at the time. “Then I started in Vegas and the band and I went down to a little club and somebody offered me a cigarette. And I came back. After a week I came back. Not on a pack a day, because when I was really smoking, I was on three packs a day, no filters. Oh yeah. I was a heavy smoker.”
More recently, Manilow moved on to vaping. Before his recent lung cancer diagnosis, Manilow battled bronchial pneumonia, an oral tumor, and was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a form of throat cancer, in 2020. (Manilow underwent surgery and vocal therapy after his throat cancer diagnosis in 2020 and eventually made a full recovery.)
In 2019, Manilow admitted to the Daily Mirror that he was willing to accept the consequences after a lifetime of smoking.
“I’m fine, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m so old, I shouldn’t be able to do this,” she said. “You’ve seen me go up the stairs on stage – there’s 14 steps up and 14 down, you’d think I’d have to be in a wheelchair or something.”
Manilow is supported by her husband throughout her recovery from lung cancer, Gary Kiefwhom he married in 2014 after more than 35 years together.