Barry Manilow Declared Cancer-Free After Lung Surgery: 'I'm One of the Lucky Ones'
Barry Manilow is in good health after a successful surgery to remove a cancerous spot on his lung. The singer is preparing to return to the stage and release a new album.
Barry Manilow is celebrating a major health victory, having been declared cancer-free following surgery to remove part of his lung. "I’m one of the lucky ones," the legendary singer told People in a recent interview, expressing his relief and renewed vigor: “This really rocked me, but I’m getting stronger.”
Manilow revealed his stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis came late last year, forcing him to cancel a series of Christmas shows in Las Vegas. He underwent a lobectomy and spent a week in intensive care. Despite calling the experience “a nightmare,” he acknowledged the surgery's success meant he wouldn’t need further treatments like chemotherapy.
"It has really, really made me take stock of my life,” Manilow reflected. “This made me stop and think about: Have I done what I wanted to do, and have I made people happy? Have I been a good friend? All of those cornball things that I’ve read for all of my life, I started to think about that, too. It really did stop me in my tracks. And the answers are yes. And as a matter of fact, there are more yeses than I ever thought.”
Manilow's early diagnosis was crucial. The cancerous spot was discovered after a doctor ordered an MRI of his lung following a bout of bronchitis.
"If he hadn’t done that, man … He saved my life, because there’s no symptoms for what I had,” Manilow explained. “I could go on, nothing hurt — but they found the dot in my lung. They called me and said, ‘Could be cancer.’ That’s a bad word. ‘Not me. Fuck you. I can’t have cancer.’”
Manilow acknowledged the uncertainty of how long the spot had been on his lungs: “If it had gone any further, then I would be up shit’s creek. It just so happened that it hadn’t spread, and boy oh boy, I thought I might be dying.”
In addition to the Vegas shows, Manilow also had to postpone his arena tour to focus on recovery. However, he’s gearing up for a comeback. On June 5, he’ll release What a Time, his first new album in nearly 15 years, and his rescheduled tour is set to begin April 13 in Belmont Park, New York, at the UBS Arena.
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