Barry Manilow “doesn’t know” if his voice will return despite cancer all-clear
Barry Manilow has admitted that he “doesn’t know” if his voice is coming back for him to be able to perform again, despite receiving the all-clear from cancer.
The classic crooner revealed that he had been diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer late in 2025, which forced him to postpone his Las Vegas residency, initially billed for February this year, while he recovered from surgery.
Thankfully, the 82-year-old revealed that he had been given the all-clear from the disease in March, acknowledging that he was “one of the lucky ones” as he prepares to release his new album, What a Time, on June 5th, and get back on the road.
However, in a new interview on Good Morning America on June 1st, Manilow admitted that despite his recovery, his upcoming tour is still not in certain sights.
“My voice, I don’t know whether it’s coming back,” he said, before adding, “I did my first sound check about a month ago, and I didn’t sound like me at all. I just couldn’t believe that it’s over.”
The ‘Copacabana’ singer said the newfound issues with his voice were “really upsetting because I don’t want to stop,” adding that his band’s reaction to his voice was “the first hint that something was not right.”
This has pulled things into perspective for Manilow, as he noted: “I’ve always taken my voice for granted. I don’t take it seriously. Now I do, because it doesn’t seem to be there the way it always was.”
Besides this, and despite his cancer recovery taking longer than he first expected, the singer added: “I’m in great shape, I’m ready to go. I just hope my voice is there. If I sound good, that would be just great!”
Although he has had to further postpone a number of his Las Vegas residency shows in May until July as he was “not quite ready”, as things stand, Manilow is still set to head to the UK to tour over the coming weeks.
He is set to kick off his run of shows in Glasgow on June 9th, before heading to Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham, and finishing at the O2 Arena in London on June 17th.
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