Barry Manilow, 82, told a reporter in Palm Springs that he is "I’m back," after surgery and treatment for lung cancer that had not spread, but said he remains unsure whether scheduled Las Vegas dates in July will go ahead.
Manilow first announced the diagnosis in December and postponed a number of concert dates when surgery was required. He said the cancer was “scary” and that because his mother died of lung cancer he reacted with force: "And I thought ‘No. I’m not going to let this happen.’" He added plainly of the tumor, "They got rid of it, and they threw it in the garbage." He also said, "Since the surgery, I can’t go on the road."
The scale of the interruption is visible in the details. The singer and songwriter spent more than 50 years performing, built a long relationship with Las Vegas stages — launching a residency at the Las Vegas Hilton in 2005 and later holding an eight-year residency at the Las Vegas Westgate resort — and still carries a catalogue that includes 11 Top 10 hits and a 15-night run at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. After the surgery, Manilow developed pneumonia and was in intensive care for a week; he lost a lot of weight and said he did not have chemotherapy or radiation.
Manilow spoke from the desert estate in Palm Springs where he and Garry Kief moved in the late 1990s. He told the reporter he and Kief settled there because, as he put it, "We kept coming out, and it’s so beautiful that eventually we said, ‘Screw it — let’s just stay,’" a line that framed why he chose to recover away from the road. In the same interview he said he was back and felt fine but cautioned about his instrument: "I’m not sure my voice feels fine yet, but I don’t want to cancel this tour."
The immediate next milestone is commercial rather than live: What a Time, his new album due June 5, is mostly original material and his first largely original LP in nearly 15 years. A recent single, "Once Before I Go," made Billboard's adult contemporary chart. Manilow said he is working out every morning to regain the strength needed for his show and, as he warmed toward a return, said simply, "Please be brilliant," a hope that underlines how much the comeback means to him and his team.
The sharp tension in the story is ordinary and stubborn: Manilow wants to perform — he has Vegas dates on the books for July — but his body has other plans. He has been forced into the longest break from the stage he can remember in decades, aside from the COVID-19 pause, and the facts line up against an immediate return: successful surgery and clearing of the cancer, yes; but a week in intensive care for pneumonia, significant weight loss and lingering doubts about his voice.
The only firm answer the record supports is this: the album will arrive on June 5 as scheduled, but a live return in July is not yet a plan anyone can count on. Manilow himself summed it up — he wants to go back onstage, but he has acknowledged the limits: "Since the surgery, I can’t go on the road." For now, fans of barry manilow can expect new music this summer; whether they will hear him live in Las Vegas in July depends on the recovery he is still fighting to complete.
