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Barry Manilow is cancer-free after a successful operation to remove part of his lung. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” the singer said in a new interview with People, adding, “This really shook me up, But I’m getting stronger.”
Manilow revealed he was diagnosed with Stage 1 lung cancer late last year – at the time he announced he was canceling a series of Christmas shows in Las Vegas. He underwent a lobectomy and spent seven days in intensive care before being discharged. Although Manilow described the experience as “a nightmare”, he acknowledged that the successful operation meant he did not need further treatments such as chemotherapy.
“It really, really made me reevaluate my life,” Manilow said of the experience. “It made me stop and think: Did I do what I wanted to do and make people happy? Was I a good friend? All those cheesy things I’ve read about my whole life – I started thinking about that too. It really threw me for a loop. And the answers are: Yes. And actually there are more yes answers than I ever thought.”
Early diagnosis saved his life
Manilow was also fortunate that his doctors discovered the disease early. He explained that the cancer was found after a doctor ordered an MRI scan of his lungs – after learning that the singer had recently suffered from bronchitis.
“If he hadn’t done that, man… He saved my life because what I had wasn’t showing any symptoms,” Manilow said. “I could have just carried on, nothing hurt – but they found the spot in my lung. They called me and said, ‘Could be cancer.’ That’s a bad word. ‘Not me. Fuck it. I can’t have cancer.’”
Manilow said it was unclear how long the spot had been on his lung, noting: “If it had gone any further, I would have been finished. It just hadn’t spread, and boy oh boy – I thought I might die.”
Return to the stage
In addition to canceling the Vegas shows, Manilow also had to postpone his arena tour in order to continue his recovery. But the singer is ready for his comeback. His first new album in nearly 15 years, “What a Time,” will be released on June 5th, and his rescheduled tour is scheduled to kick off on April 13th in Belmont Park, New York at the UBS Arena.
