“Hi everybody – Barry here. And I want you to be the first to know that we’re going to take a quick break,” he wrote on Instagram. “We just finished a fantastic summer tour. 29 shows in 68 days.”

Maintaining a uplifting outlook, Manilow continued, “The shows were fantastic. The audiences were fantastic. And I sounded fantastic. But it seems that we were pushing a little too hard. Now we all need to sit down and shut up.”

He told fans the hiatus would last “until we return to the Westgate Las Vegas on October 8th. When I’ll be singing like a bird. I hope to see you then.”

And it certainly sounds like he’s ready. Just this week, Manilow shared an excited post on Instagram, which read, “Who’s ready to turn @westgatevegas into the hottest spot north of Havana this weekend?!? Vegas, here we come!”

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Manilow’s upcoming performances at the International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas will run from Oct. 8 through Dec. 19, 2026.

And fans won’t have to say goodbye anytime soon. Manilow has already extended his run at the Westgate’s International Theater into 2027, announcing on Instagram that he’ll be back for shows Feb. 18–20, Feb. 25–27, March 25–27 and April 1–3. Members of his fan club got first dibs on seats in a September pre-sale, and tickets are now available to the general public.

Fans flooded the comments with excitement for Manilow’s return to Westgate, with some traveling from as far as Orlando and the U.K. (one is catching all three shows), while others sent well-wishes urging him to “take it slow.”

Manilow’s Lung Cancer Journey

Manilow’s return carries extra meaning after a difficult year. He first announced his cancer diagnosis on his official website on Dec. 22, 2025, after a six-week bout of bronchitis led his doctors to order imaging of his lungs, ABC7 reported.

“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 News’ Chris Connelly in an interview that aired on Good Morning America in June. “They said I had lung cancer and we have to get it out.”

The spot was a stage 1 tumor in his left lung, and he underwent a successful lobectomy, a surgery that removes one lobe of the lung.

According to Manilow, his doctors said he didn’t need chemotherapy or radiation. But his recovery hit a serious setback when he developed pneumonia and was admitted to the ICU.

“There was a couple of moments there that I thought this may be goodbye,” he said, praising the nurses and doctors who cared for him.

Worries About His Voice

In the same interview, Manilow addressed the fear of losing his voice. “My voice — I don’t know whether it’s coming back,” he said. “I did my first sound check about a month ago and I didn’t sound like me at all.”

He admitted he had “taken my voice for granted” over a career spanning more than five decades. Still, he said he was “doing good” and eager to perform again. “I can’t wait to get back. I’m in great shape, I’m ready to go. I just hope my voice is there,” he said.

Despite his concerns, his summer shows went on as planned.

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Lung Cancer: The Early Detection Issue

Lung cancer forms when cancer cells develop in the tissues of the lung. It is the second most common form of cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the U.S., SurvivorNet experts say. It’s “completely asymptomatic,” says thoracic surgeon-in-chief at Temple University Health System Dr. Joseph Friedberg.

“It causes no issues until it has spread somewhere. So, if it spreads to the bones, it may cause pain. If it spreads to the brain, it may cause something not subtle, like a seizure,” Dr. Friedberg adds.

Scans such as X-rays can help doctors determine if a shadow appears, which can prompt further testing for lung cancer.

Some people with lung cancer may experience symptoms such as:

• A cough that doesn’t go away, that gets worse, or that brings up bloody phlegm
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Chest pain
• Hoarse voice
• Appetite loss
• Weight loss

If you are experiencing these kinds of symptoms consistently, contact your doctor for further tests.

There are two main types of lung cancer, which doctors group together based on how they act and how they’re treated:

• Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type and makes up about 85% of cases.
• Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is less common, but it tends to grow faster than NSCLC and is treated very differently.

How Your Stage Is Determined

After an initial diagnosis of lung cancer all patients will have a staging workup to determine what stage of cancer they have and the best approach for treating their cancer.

For lung cancer, this can be quite extensive and include many tests and imaging studies. Typically, patients will have a combination of imaging studies including CT, MRI, and PET scans.

The goal of all of this imaging is to determine where cancer has spread and also where it has not spread.

Patients with stage 3 lung cancer will typically have imaging of the chest and tumor, a PET scan of the entire body to see if cancer has spread, and an MRI of the brain to see if cancer has spread into the brain.

 

In addition to imaging studies, patients will also have additional tests performed on the tissue obtained from the biopsy. These tests are conducted by a pathologist and look for aspects of the tumor that can be targeted for treatment. These tests include biomarker and genetic testing. Your doctors may order additional tests from what is covered here and it is important to discuss with your treatment team what is being ordered and why.

Helping Patients Through Lung Cancer Surgery and 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,” Dr. Friedberg previously explained to SurvivorNet.

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

“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.

“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, a thoracic surgery nurse at the University of Maryland Medical Center, also spoke with SurvivorNet and said 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.

Do What You Love During & After Cancer

During cancer treatment, and also after, it can be hard to focus on anything except your treatment or the challenges that follow a cancer battle. However, Manilow is a wonderful example that it’s important to take a moment and focus on something that makes you genuinely happy.

Experts recommend you try to take some time out of your day a few times a week and really enjoy those special pockets of joy.

“We know from good studies that emotional health is associated with survival, meaning better quality of life is associated with better outcomes,” Dr. Dana Chase, a gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology, previously told SurvivorNet.

“So working on your emotional health, your physical well-being, your social environment [and] your emotional well-being are important and can impact your survival. If that’s related to what activities you do that bring you joy, then you should try to do more of those activities.”

Dr. Dana Chase Encourages Those Facing Cancer to Find Moments of Joy During Treatment

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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