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What Barry Manilow thought was a minor health issue turned into a major wake-up call when doctors discovered early-stage lung cancer.
The legendary performer, 82, revealed that what began as minor discomfort ultimately led to a stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis — discovered only because of a doctor’s instinct to look deeper.
In November, Manilow visited his doctor, complaining of hip pain. His doctor ordered an MRI of his pelvis, then, after hearing about two recent bouts of bronchitis, decided to scan his lungs, too.
BARRY MANILOW OPENS UP ABOUT ‘AGONY’ OF LUNG CANCER SURGERY RECOVERY: ‘I AM GETTING STRONGER’
“If he hadn’t done that, man … He saved my life, because there’s no symptoms for what I had. I could go on, nothing hurt — but they found the dot in my lung,” Manilow told People. “They called me and said, ‘Could be cancer.’ That’s a bad word. ‘Not me. F— you. I can’t have cancer.’”
Further testing confirmed the diagnosis.
The timeline moved fast. Within four weeks, Manilow was in surgery, undergoing a lobectomy to remove part of his lung. What followed was a brutal recovery, including seven days in the ICU.
“I don’t remember it, thank goodness, because it was a nightmare,” Manilow says. “I’m one of the lucky ones; I don’t have to have chemo, radiation and all that stuff.”
He first revealed the diagnosis in December 2025, stunning fans.
Now, he’s speaking more candidly about what it means to survive something you never saw coming.
“You just don’t even think about [how fragile life is]. And suddenly, you have lung cancer. But I’m still here. I’m not all here; there’s part of me that isn’t here — they took out a part of me, and now I’ve got to figure out, ‘What do I do?’” he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Manilow for comment.
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The “Copacabana” singer is now cancer-free – and back on the charts.
BARRY MANILOW CANCELS UPCOMING TOUR DATES DUE TO CONTINUING HEALTH ISSUES
In a recent video message, Manilow delivered a positive message to his fans and shared a major health milestone.
“Hi everyone, Barry Manilow here. Well, looks like I made it, and I look fabulous, right?” he said, smiling.
“You know, with everything that’s going on in the world, I wanted to check in and share some good news. In fact, it’s great news.”
His latest single, “Once Before I Go,” topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, prompting him to joke, “How do you like that? I’m 100 years old with a top 10 single on the pop charts. Like my grandmother once said, next thing you know, they’ll be walking on the moon.”
Manilow is gearing up for his 33rd studio album, “What a Time,” slated to release in June.
Last year, the legendary singer’s health scare derailed his tour and forced him off the stage. In February, Manilow admitted he wasn’t ready to return to the stage at the time. “Just got home from visiting the surgeon. Very depressing visit,” he shared.
Even with intense effort, he explained his body wasn’t cooperating.
“I told him that I have been using the treadmill three times a day (I have), but that I still couldn’t sing more than three songs in a row before I had to stop,” he said.
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“The doctor said that my body had been through hell and that it needed time to heal. So, I’m going back to healing.”
Manilow rose to fame writing iconic jingles like McDonald’s “You Deserve a Break Today” and creating chart-topping classics like “Copacabana,” cementing himself as one of the most successful pop artists of the 1970s and 1980s.
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