Amid his cancer diagnosis, Barry Manilow reveals why he won’t undergo chemotherapy and radiation

In late December, Barry Manilow shared that he has lung caner.

The 82-year-old explained that the diagnosis came after a long battle with bronchitis. “As many of you know I recently went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks,” Manilow wrote. “Even though I was over the bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK.”

The scan revealed a “cancerous spot” on his left lung. “It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news,” he said.

The star reassured fans that chemotherapy and radiation will not be part of his treatment.

“The bad news is that now that the Christmas Gift Of Love concerts are over I’m going into surgery to have the spot removed. The doctors do not believe it has spread and I’m taking tests to confirm their diagnosis. So that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns.”

New update

Manilow’s arena tour, originally set for January 2026 across nine U.S. cities, has been rescheduled to late February through April.