Barry Manilow, 82, Faces Uncertain Return After Lung Cancer Surgery

The singer says pneumonia, ICU care and a collapsed lung slowed his recovery before a June 25 return to the stage

Donna Freydkin,

AARP

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Published June 02, 2026

Barry Manilow, seen at the Tony Awards in New York City in 2023, is speaking out about his recovery from lung cancer surgery and the complications that affected his voice.

zz/NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Photo

Key takeaways

Barry Manilow had surgery for lung cancer, then developed pneumonia and a collapsed lung.
He spent seven days in intensive care and nearly a month in the hospital, according to USA Today.
Lung cancer screening rates remain low, with 18.7 percent of eligible Americans up- to- date, according to a 2025 study.

Barry Manilow, 82, is scheduled to return to the stage this month, not knowing whether he will ever sound the same.

“My voice — I don’t know whether it’s coming back,” Manilow told ABC News in an interview that aired June 1 on Good Morning America. “I did my first sound check about a month ago, and I didn’t sound like me at all. I just couldn’t believe that it’s over.”

He added, “That is really upsetting. Because I don’t want it to stop.”

Manilow is recovering after surgery for stage 1 lung cancer, followed by pneumonia, a week in intensive care and, later, a collapsed lung. He postponed dates in his Las Vegas residency and other performances.

His U.S. concerts are now scheduled to resume on June 25 in Reading, Pennsylvania.

“I’ve been practicing singing in my studio, and I’m pretty close,” he told USA Today. “I’m not sure I can do 90 minutes [onstage].… I’m pushing myself as much as I can every day. And now and again, I think I’m fine. And then the next day I can’t talk, no less sing.”

Manilow has built a long career as a singer, songwriter, arranger and live performer. His best-known songs include “Mandy” and “Looks Like We Made It.” He has 15 Grammy nominations and one win, in 1979, for “Copacabana (At the Copa).”

He announced his diagnosis in December 2025, after doctors found a cancerous spot on his left lung following two bouts of bronchitis. He underwent a left lung lobectomy, which he said changed his voice.

“They checked my lungs, and they found the dot, the spot, that thing that you don’t want to, you don’t want to ever have,” Manilow told ABC. “They said I had lung cancer and we have to get it out.”

“It was just too heavy for me,” said Manilow, who previously said that he started smoking at age 9 and smoked for 30 years.

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Manilow told ABC that doctors initially removed the cancerous tumor and said he did not need chemotherapy or radiation. He then contracted pneumonia and landed in the ICU.

“There was a couple of moments there that I thought this may be goodbye,” he told ABC. “But these people at this hospital, they were just angels, saints. I could cry so hard every time I think about these nurses and doctors.”

USA Today reported that Manilow spent seven days in the ICU and close to a month in the hospital. In January, he said, his lung collapsed, and he had to return to the hospital.

“So the healing actually started in February, and they say it takes about a year before everything comes back, but I’ve got this tour coming up,” he told USA Today.

On June 5, he releases What a Time, his first album of original material since 2011’s 15 Minutes.

Manilow’s cancer was caught at the earliest and most treatable end of a disease that often goes undetected until it has advanced. Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute.

Screening can help catch lung cancer earlier, but most eligible Americans have not been screened. A November 2025 study published in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) found that 12.76 million people were eligible for lung cancer screening under U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines, yet only 18.7 percent reported being up-to-date with screening. Researchers estimated that screening everyone eligible could prevent 62,110 lung cancer deaths over five years.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that adults ages 50 to 80 with at least a 20 pack-year smoking history who currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years should be screened every year for lung cancer with low-dose CT.

According to the American Cancer Society, some common lung cancer symptoms may include a cough that lingers or worsens over time, blood or reddish-brown mucus when coughing, chest pain that gets worse with deep breaths, coughing or laughing and infections like bronchitis that don’t clear up or that return.

Cancer care guide

Manilow heard the words no one wants to hear: “It’s cancer.” Here are 15 steps experts say can help patients and families move quickly, ask better questions and take an active role in care.

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The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Donna Freydkin has spent 10-plus years interviewing celebrities for major publications, and has written for a variety of outlets such as USA Today, Allure, Yahoo! and CNN covering topics such as films, family and favorite meals.

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