The 82-year-old entertainer went public with his diagnosis late in 2025, revealing he needed to postpone his upcoming concert dates so he could undergo surgery to remove a cancerous spot from one of his lungs.
Manilow has now credited his quick-thinking doctor with saving his life by ordering a scan on his lungs as a precaution after hearing about recent bouts of bronchitis.
He told PEOPLE magazine: "If he (the doctor) hadn't done that (ordered the scan), 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**k you. I can't have cancer' ...
"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 shit creek. It just so happened that it hadn't spread, and boy oh boy, I thought I might be dying."
Manilow underwent an operation to remove part of his lung and spent seven days in an intensive care unit recovering until he was deemed well enough to go home.
The singer insisted he barely remembers his stay in hospital but feels lucky that his ordeal is now over and he doesn't have to endure any further treatment.
He told the publication: "I don't remember (the hospital stay), 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."
Manilow went on to insist the terrifying health battle made him re-evaluate his life and he's now looking to the future and getting back to performing.
He said: "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 ...
"This really rocked me but I'm getting stronger."
It comes after Manilow was forced to postpone the start of his upcoming arena tour following a "very depressing" meeting with his surgeon in which he realised he would not be fully recovered in time.
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