Barry Manilow Shares Hospital Bed Selfie and Recovery After Cancer Diagnoses

Barry Manilow gave an update on his life after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The Grammy Award winner, 82, shared a photo of herself smiling in a hospital bed on Friday, January 2. Alongside the photo, Manilow assured her fans on Friday that she was feeling “better today.”

Manilow has been showered with positive messages and well wishes from her Instagram followers. Melanie TaylorManilow’s longtime backup singer, beamed “my boss y’all” in the comments.

“You walk through the rain! I love you B,” continued Taylor.

Guns N’ Roses and The Cult alum Matt Sorum he added, “Heal Barry, much love.”

“Sending lots of love, Barry,” the icon drawled Coco Peru I entered.

On December 22, Manilow went public with his diagnosis of lung cancer and confirmed that he will soon undergo surgery.

“As many of you know, I just went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a recurrence of another five weeks. Even though I was over bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my amazing doctor ordered an MRI to make sure everything is fine,” he shared on Instagram. “The MRI found a cancerous area in my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s very fortunate (and a great doctor) that it was found early. This is good news.”

The “Can’t Smile Without You” singer explained that he had to finish his annual Christmas concerts in December before planning a date to “take the place out.”

“Doctors do not believe that it has spread, and I am taking tests to confirm whether they are infected. I love Lucy he repeats,” he wrote.

The singer-songwriter announced that she needed “a month to recover” from post-op surgery, so she was canceling concerts scheduled for January. (Manilow was scheduled for gigs in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Ohio this month.)

“I am very sorry that you have to change your plans,” he wrote to fans. “Like you, we’ve all been looking forward to the January shows and we hate to have to move everything.”

Looking ahead, Manilow said he intends to return to the stage for his Valentine’s Day weekend concerts at the Westgate Las Vegas on February 12-14.

“Something tells me this weekend in February is going to be one big party!” Manilow concluded. “I hope you have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. And remember, if you have minor symptoms… get checked out! I’ll see you at the Westgate Las Vegas on Valentine’s!”

Manilow has been open about his smoking habit over the years. He told The Evening Standard in 2012 that he had been “smoking for 30 years,” starting when he was “just 9 years old.”

“I quit about 15, 20 years ago,” he explained at the time. “I just started in Las Vegas with a group and I went down to a little club and someone gave me a cigarette. I was back. Within a week I was back. Not a pack a day, because when I was smoking I had three packs a day – no filters. Oh yeah. I smoked a lot.”

Recently, Manilow switched to vaping. Before her recent lung cancer diagnosis, Manilow battled bronchial pneumonia, an oral tumor and was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma – a type of throat cancer – in 2020. (Manilow underwent surgery and voice therapy after her 2020 throat cancer diagnosis and eventually made a full recovery.)

In 2019, Manilow admitted that The Daily Mirror that he was willing to accept the consequences after smoking all his life.

“I’m fine, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, I’m too old, I shouldn’t be able to do this,” he said. “You saw me go up those 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 during her recovery from lung cancer, Garry Kiefmarried him in 2014 after more than 35 years together.