Barry Manilow Opens Up About Lung Cancer Diagnosis & Recovery

Barry Manilow is addressing his lung cancer diagnosis.

The 82-year-old singer is opening up for the first time about getting the diagnosis last year, and the current state of his recovery.

Keep reading to find out more…

In a feature for People, Barry revealed that he went to the doctor in November because his hips were hurting. And after an MRI on his pelvis, they did one on his lungs because he had recently had bronchitis.

“If he hadn’t done that, man…he saved my life, because there’s no symptoms for what I had. I could go on, nothing hurt — but they found the dot in my lung. They called me and said, ‘Could be cancer.’ That’s a bad word. ‘Not me. F— you. I can’t have cancer,’” he revealed.

“They don’t even know how long I had this thing sitting on me. It could have been years. If it had gone any further, then I would be up s—’s creek. It just so happened that it hadn’t spread, and boy oh boy, I thought I might be dying.”

Less than a month later, he underwent a lobectomy to remove that part of his lung, then spent a week in the ICU before being sent home.

“I don’t remember it, thank goodness, because it was a nightmare. I’m one of the lucky ones; I don’t have to have chemo, radiation and all that stuff,” he revealed.

“It has really, really made me take stock of my life. This made me stop and think about: Have I done what I wanted to do, and have I made people happy? Have I been a good friend? All of those cornball things that I’ve read for all of my life, I started to think about that, too. It really did stop me in my tracks. And the answers are yes. And as a matter of fact, there are more yeses than I ever thought.”

He previously shared an update about his health in February while postponing additional shows.