Legendary Singer-Songwriter Barry Manilow, 82, Admits He’s ‘Going Back To Healing’ After Cancelling More Shows Amid Recovery From Lung Cancer Surgery: ‘I Will Come Back!’

“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. But I was sure that I would be able to do the Arena shows in a few weeks.”

However, Manilow recalled his doctor shaking his head before telling him, “Barry, you won’t be ready to do a 90 minute show. Your lungs aren’t ready yet.

“You’re in great shape considering what you’ve been through but your body isn’t ready. You shouldn’t do the first Arena shows. You won’t make it through.”

A Statement from Barry Manilow. pic.twitter.com/VMCgHupsbp

— Barry Manilow (@barrymanilow) February 20, 2026

Manilow, known for his hit songs “Copacabana (At the Copa)” and “Mandy,” then acknowledged that he’d anticipated hearing the saddening news from his physician.

His statement continued, “Deep down, I wanted to go back—but my body knew what my heart didn’t want to admit: I wasn’t ready.

“I’m so sorry I have to reschedule the first batch of Arena shows from February 27th to March 17.”

Manilow added that his physician was still hopeful he would “likely” be able to resume his Las Vegas performances later in March, along with the second round of arena concerts scheduled for early April.

“I’m SO, SO sorry I have to reschedule some of these first Arena shows. Again! But when I do come back I will COME BACK!!!” his statement continued.

“In the meantime, and once again, thank you all for your wonderful notes and phone calls of support. The doctor said that my body had been through hell and that it needed time to heal. So, I’m going back to healing. All my love and gratitude, B.”

One sweet fan commented, “Come back when you are ready, Barry. We’ll still be here for you! Take your time and get well soon. Big love from the UK.”

Another wrote, “This is the right move Barry! Everyone is supportive and willing to wait! You are loved!”

While a third supporter said, “Praying for you sir. Your music will have more meaning and emotion than ever when you make it through the rain as you have sung so well. God bless.”

Manilow’s update comes just a few weeks after he took to Instagram to say he’s “doing great” and “recovering well” from his surgery.

In the February 4 post, Manilow said he’s been focusing on his health by exercising and doing what he loves, “spending time in the studio.”

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A post shared by Barry Manilow (@barrymanilowofficial)

Manilow previously admitted to being a long-time cigarette smoker and, more recently, someone who uses vape pens to satisfy his smoking fix.

Dr. Friedberg urges people concerned about their lung cancer risk to quit.

“There’s no gray zone. Smoking causes lung cancer. That’s it. If you’re smoking, stop,” Dr. Joseph Friedberg, thoracic surgeon-in-chief at the Temple University Health System, previously told SurvivorNet.

“[Quitting smoking] decreases your chance of getting lung cancer. You never return down all the way to the person who never smoked, as far as your risk of lung cancer, but it goes down,” Dr. Friedberg continued.

Manilow previously detailed with the London Evening Standard in a 2012 interview his long history of smoking.

“Well, I smoked for 30 years. I started when I was nine years old. I grew up in Brooklyn,’ he said.

Smoking can complicate lung cancer surgery. Tiny, hair-like cells called cilia line our windpipes, and their main job is to sweep mucus out of the lungs. Smoking paralyzes these cells, and the inability to clear this mucus effectively is why smokers often develop that telltale hacking cough. During lung cancer surgery, these secretions can get caught in your lung and increase your risk for developing pneumonia, a potentially fatal complication.

A seven-year study published in Annals of Internal Medicine observed the benefits of lung cancer patients who stopped smoking.

“We found quitting smoking after diagnosis to be an important predictor of overall and progression-free survival in patients with early-stage NSCLC. Compared with patients who continued smoking in the follow-up period, those who quit smoking had 33% decreased risk for overall mortality and 25% decreased risk for cancer-specific mortality,” notes lead author Dr. Madhi Sheikh, a member of the Genetic Epidemiology Group at IARC.

“Furthermore, the median survival time was 21.6 months longer among those who quit smoking than those who continued smoking.”

Navigating Lung Cancer Surgery and the Road to Recovery

Before getting serious about lung cancer, oncologists take a closer look at the heart health of the patient.

“We’ll look at the carotid arteries, which are the blood vessels that supply blood to your brain,” said Dr. Friedberg.

“In addition to smoking, which is the most common cause of lung cancer causing cancers, it also causes heart disease and other arterial diseases.”

WATCH: Preparing for lung cancer surgery

“We want to get the things to make sure that if surgery is appropriate, we, as best as we can humanly tell, have eliminated the possibilities or the likelihood that you’re going to have a heart attack or a stroke if we subject you to the surgery,” Dr. Friedberg said.

There are several types of surgery that can remove lung cancer, which include:

• Segmentectomy (removal of a small segment of the lung)
• Lobectomy (removal of a lobe of the lung)
• Pneumonectomy (removal of the entire lung)

The decision is largely based on the size of the tumor and where in your lung it is located.

“If the tumor is on the outer part of the lung and it’s small, you can get something called a wedge resection, which is a pizza pie-shaped resection of that lung,” Dr. Raja Flores, Chairman of the Department of Thoracic Surgery and the Steven and Ann Ames Professor in Thoracic Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System, said.

WATCH: Surgical Options for Lung Cancer

“It removes the lung, and it spares a lot of the lung parenchyma, which is the functional part of the lung,” Dr. Flores added.

Although pneumonectomy removes the entire lung, Dr. Flores says not all patients can tolerate the procedure.

“It depends on how good their lung function really is, and many of the patients are smokers, so they have damaged their lungs, so you have to get these breathing tests before you go ahead and do any big lung operation on anybody,” Dr. Flores explained.

WATCH: Pain Management After Lung Cancer Surgery

As effective as lung cancer surgery can be, the recovery often feels like its own challenge. Melissa Culligan, RN, MS, says the hardest part usually begins once patients return home and have to manage pain on their own.

“I continue to learn that honesty to your patients and their family members while maintaining a healthy dose of hope is probably the most important thing for patients and their families as they’re going through cancer treatment,” Culligan explains.

That honesty helps people prepare for what recovery really looks like.

Culligan encourages patients to stay closely connected to their care team, especially when something feels off. As healing progresses, pain often shifts in both location and intensity, and she stresses that these changes are usually expected. Reaching out allows the team to either adjust pain management or reassure patients that their experience is normal.

As patients become more active, discomfort often increases. Culligan notes that this doesn’t mean anything is wrong; it’s simply part of the body’s recovery and rebuilding strength. She urges patients to continue taking their pain medication as prescribed while they heal.

“It’s critical after surgery and after any treatment that you do keep active and keep your body in the best possible condition along the way,” Culligan said.

WATCH: Pain Management After Lung Cancer Surgery

As effective as lung cancer surgery can be, the recovery often feels like its own challenge. Melissa Culligan, RN, MS, says the hardest part usually begins once patients return home and have to manage pain on their own.

“I continue to learn that honesty to your patients and their family members while maintaining a healthy dose of hope is probably the most important thing for patients and their families as they’re going through cancer treatment,” Culligan explains.

That honesty helps people prepare for what recovery really looks like.

Culligan encourages patients to stay closely connected to their care team, especially when something feels off. As healing progresses, pain often shifts in both location and intensity, and she stresses that these changes are usually expected. Reaching out allows the team to either adjust pain management or reassure patients that their experience is normal.

As patients become more active, discomfort often increases. Culligan notes that this doesn’t mean anything is wrong; it’s simply part of the body’s recovery and rebuilding strength. She urges patients to continue taking their pain medication as prescribed while they heal.

“It’s critical after surgery and after any treatment that you do keep active and keep your body in the best possible condition along the way,” Culligan said.

RELATED: What is VATS Surgery for Lung Cancer?

What Life May Look Like After Treatment

If patients have not experienced too many complications from their chemotherapy, “they are often able to go back to many of the same things that they did before they had their diagnosis of cancer and are able to live full and complete lives,” Dr. Michael Jain, medical oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.

If the cancer does return at some point, any future treatment you get will depend on:

• The type of cancer you had
• The type of treatment you received for it
• How long has it been since you finished your treatment
• Your overall health

Making a Survivorship Care Plan

So what comes after successful treatment? “At that point, we often focus on the survivorship issues that they may have, preventing second cancers, and properly following them,” Dr. Jain explains.

A survivorship plan will include a schedule for follow-up exams and tests, plus a schedule for tests to check for any long-term health impacts from your cancer or treatment, and screening for any new cancers.

Your doctor will likely tell you what to look out for in terms of side effects that could show up late or over the long term. Your care team will provide you with diet and physical activity recommendations as part of your survivorship plan.

Moving On From Treatment

It’s natural to feel continuing mental health effects, such as depression and anxiety, even after your treatment ends. This is where you can benefit from a supportive community. Look to strengthen your relationships with friends and family, faith groups, support groups, and mental health professionals to buoy you as you move on from treatment.

In addition to caring for their mental health, people who finish treatment and are in complete remission will want to move on from cancer with a physically healthy lifestyle. Eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, staying at a healthy weight, and not smoking are all lifestyle practices that generally contribute to a healthy quality of life.

Indeed, cancer and its treatment might naturally point survivors in the direction of such practices. “Mostly [we’re] trying to maximize the quality of life that people have, because once you have a cancer diagnosis, I think it is an important time in someone’s life where they can take stock and really understand what’s important,” Dr. Jain adds.

How Turning to Music Can Help Cancer Patients

Music has the power to move us—whether we’re making it, enjoying it, or performing on stage. Many, including artists have experienced its emotional impact firsthand, but not everyone is aware that science supports these effects.

RELATED: Singer LeAnn Rimes Holds Remarkable Candlelight Concert – The Healing Power of Music

Dr. Alexander Pantelyat, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview, “Just listening to music activates more brain regions simultaneously than any other human activity.”

A study published in 2022 the journal Parkinson’s Disease researched the effects music had on the brain. It found music can help reduce anxiety for patients. Dr. Serap Bastepe-Gray, who co-founded  the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine with Dr. Pantelyat, led the study.

“The guitar, which is portable, affordable, and one of the most popular instruments in the U.S., has potential as a motivational therapeutic tool both in the clinical and community settings,” Dr. Bastepe-Gray said.

Music therapy is a resource cancer patients turn to during treatment. Music therapy includes “creating, singing, moving, listening and/or relaxing” to the sounds of your favorite songs according to the National Cancer Institute.

This form of therapy can help relieve depression, stress, anxiety, and pain.

Pancreatic cancer survivor Joel Naftelberg can also attest to the power of music, as he found the support he needed from his music family. He previously told SurvivorNet, “The people that were my heroes in entertainment and rock and roll have been my friends and have been some of the most supportive people that I’ve had in my life.”

Cancer Survivor Joel Naftelberg Learned to Dance on His Problems

Naftelberg describes his cancer as a “monster.” It’s “attacked every facet of [his] life,” but that doesn’t mean he’s let it get the best of him. Music has been his saving grace.

“I have found music and rock and roll to be transformational,” he said. “Doesn’t necessarily solve anything, but it does let us dance on our problems for at least an hour or two. Nothing better on a Friday afternoon than to hang with your friends and listen to beautiful music.”

Focusing on something you love is an important way to build resilience in the face of coping with cancer and chronic disease, psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman previously told SurvivorNet. She explained what she calls the “three wellsprings of vitality,” which are connecting with others, contributing to the lives of others, and challenging yourself to continue growing.

“Those are the cores of vitality, and the core pathways to enhance your everyday resilience,” Dr. Boardman said.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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