Barry Manilow walked away from the stage just as he returned from a health-related hiatus.
Manilow cut his concert Friday just two songs after it started. According to concertgoers who detailed the incident on social media, the 83-year-old singer suddenly told the crowd to talk among themselves as he left the stage. The curtain rose and a few minutes later the audience was told that the show was over. Manilow’s performance scheduled for Saturday was later canceled.
The day before, Thursday, the “Copacabana” singer returned after a six-week hiatus to perform at the International Theater at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, telling the audience, “I’m back!” Manilow looked lively and energetic throughout the show. “God, I feel like I’m a teen idol again,” she joked when several audience members threw their underwear on stage. She grabbed a pair of full-coverage panties and asked if they needed to go to the laundromat, then grabbed a pink lace thong and joked, “I’ll keep this pair.”
“Following Thursday’s triumphant welcome concert, Barry contracted bronchitis and was forced to cancel his Friday and Saturday shows,” Manilow’s representatives told Paste Magazine.
Last year, Manilow announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and that surgery would require him to postpone several performances. He told The Times in May that since his surgery, he’s been out of breath walking down the hall. “Screaming in tune for ninety minutes, which I do for a living — I’m not ready for that yet,” he said at the time. “I will, but it takes a long time to get my voice back. They warned me that I had to learn to breathe again. These days I get up, sit at my piano and try to be creative. Before I know it, the afternoon is over.”
The star returned to the stage in June after a six-month hiatus to support her latest album, “What a Time,” her first LP full of new material in nearly 15 years.
But in August, Manilow canceled shows due to sound and technical issues before telling fans he had to pause. “We just finished an amazing summer tour with 29 shows in 68 days,” the singer said. “The shows were amazing. The audience was amazing. I sounded amazing, too. But it seems like we’re pushing it a little too hard.”
“We all need to sit down and shut up now,” Manilow said.