Barry Manilow has come down with bronchitis.
The Copacabana icon, who was diagnosed with lung cancer last year, returned to the stage in a high‑spirited fashion on Thursday (08.10.26) after a six‑week hiatus, but his show at the International Theater inside the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino concluded abruptly on Friday (09.10.26) after only two numbers and the Saturday night performance was subsequently canceled altogether due to health concerns.
A representative told Variety that after the buoyant welcome-back evening on Thursday, Manilow developed bronchitis and had to cancel his Friday and Saturday engagements.
According to Vital Vegas, the 83‑year‑old managed just two songs on Friday before leaving the stage. The musicians continued with instrumental passages as an announcement was made that the performance had ended.
Audience members later took to social media to note that Ticketmaster had informed them refunds would be issued.
Manilow’s comeback this week followed his abrupt cancellation of two Las Vegas residency shows in August and his later announcement of a six‑week hiatus after admitting he had been pushing himself too hard.
The Mandy hitmaker posted a message on Instagram: “Hi everybody — Barry here. And I want you to be the first to know that we’re going to take a quick break.”
“We just finished a fantastic summer tour. 29 shows in 68 days. 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. So, we’re going to take a break 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.”
Manilow cancelled Las Vegas appearances in February, as well as the launch dates of his arena tour for that month and March, followed by his April performances, because he said he was still “not quite ready” to return to the stage.
He was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer in December 2025 after the disease was detected during an MRI prompted by recent bronchitis episodes, and he underwent a lobectomy to remove a malignant growth from his left lung.
The Can’t Smile Without You singer—who later confirmed he was cancer-free three months afterward—has recently said he never expected cancer to “get me” because he had been “too busy” with his storied music career.
In May, he told the Los Angeles Times that he never anticipated cancer would affect him—it wasn’t in the cards.
“They wanted to remove it as soon as possible, so we made a plan: I’d finish the couple of weeks of shows I had, then I’d go to the hospital, and they’d remove it.”
It was supposed to be straightforward—it hadn’t spread yet, thankfully. But then his AFib flared up, followed by acid reflux and pneumonia, and he was rushed to the ICU for seven days.
Asked why the Grammy winner “never thought cancer would get” him, he explained: “I’m too busy. Pretty stupid.”
“What I realized is that I’ve always been the leader — the bandleader, the conductor of an audience — but I wasn’t the leader of this one.”
“That was a big lesson for me. I had to rely on everybody else—the nurses, the doctors, my friends—you should see some of the notes people have sent.”
