Barry Manilow has contracted bronchitis.
The Copacabana singer – who was diagnosed with lung cancer last year – made a “triumphant” return to the stage on Thursday (08.10.26) after taking a six-week break but abruptly ended his performance at the International Theater at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino on Friday (09.10.26) after just two songs and later cancelled Saturday (10.10.26) night’s concert entirely due to ill health.
A spokesperson told Variety: “After a triumphant welcome-back concert on Thursday, Barry got hit with bronchitis and had to cancel his Friday and Saturday shows.”
According to Vital Vegas, Barry, 83, performed just two songs on Friday before walking off stage. The band continued to play instrumentals before an announcement was made that the show was over.
Attendees confirmed on social media afterwards that they had been told by Ticketmaster they would be refunded.
Barry’s comeback this week came after he abruptly pulled the plug on two of his Las Vegas residency shows in August and then announced he’d be taking a six-week break after “pushing too hard”.
The Mandy hitmaker said in a statement shared to 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.”
Barry cancelled gigs in Las Vegas in February as well as his arena tour launch dates that month and in March, followed by his April concerts because he was still “not quite ready” to return to the stage.
Barry was diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer in December 2025 after the disease was detected during an MRI after hearing about recent bouts of bronchitis, and he underwent a lobectomy to remove a “cancerous tumour” on his left lung.
The Can’t Smile Without You singer – who confirmed he is cancer-free three months later – recently said he “never” thought cancer would “get me” because of being “too busy” with his illustrious music career.
In May, he told the Los Angeles Times: “I never thought cancer would get me – it wasn’t in the cards.
“They wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible, so we made a deal: I’d finish the couple of weeks of shows that I had, then I’d go to the hospital, and they’d remove it.
“It was supposed to be a no-brainer – it hadn’t spread yet, thank goodness. But then my AFib kicked in, and acid reflux kicked in, and pneumonia kicked in. They rushed me to the ICU for seven days.”
Asked why the Grammy award winner “never thought cancer would get” him, he explained: “I’m too busy. Pretty stupid.
“What I realised is that I’ve always been the leader – leader of the band, leader 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. Nurses, doctors, friends – you should see some of the notes people have sent.”
