Singer Barry Manilow was rushed to the hospital this week with a bronchial infection, according to PEOPLE, canceling Thursday night’s first show of his Las Vegas residency at the Westgate.
The 74-year-old singer was admittedly distraught about the situation.
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“I can’t believe this is happening,” Manilow said in a statement. “Our new show is ready, we’re all ready, and we were all looking forward to tonight.”
The good news is that Manilow is reportedly expected to make a full recovery and be released in a few days, according to a press release he himself released on Twitter.
— Barry Manilow (@barrymanilow) June 14, 2018
“The entire Westgate family wishes Barry a speedy recovery and we know that he will dazzle audiences when his show resumes on June 21st,” Westgate Resort CEO David Siegel wrote in the release.
Full refunds for Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s show are being offered.
In May 2017, Manilow faced a similar situation and had to cancel two concerts after spraining his vocal chords.
A month prior to that Manilow officially came out as gay, telling PEOPLE in an interview about his 40-year relationship with husband/manager Garry Kief. The two first met in 1978 and secretly married in 2014 after same-sex marriage became legal in California.
Manilow said in the interview he kept his sexual orientation a secret for fear of disappointing his fans.
“I thought I would be disappointing them if they knew I was gay. So I never did anything,” Manilow said. “When they found out that Garry and I were together, they were so happy. The reaction was so beautiful — strangers commenting, ‘Great for you!’ I’m just so grateful for it.”
The pop icon began his career in the 1960s as a jingle writer, creating numerous famous jingles for companies like State Farm, McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken and for products like Band-Aid, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi.
His 50-year career includes 47 Top 40 singles, 3 of which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts with “I Write The Songs,” “Looks Like We Made It” and “Mandy.”
Manilow discussed his excitement for starting up his residency in a recent interview with the Las Vegas Sun.
“I couldn’t be happier that my music has withstood time and had that kind of impact on people,” Manilow said. “Because what happens to all young artists that become successful overnight is I was getting killed by the critics. I mean, killed. They tried to annihilate me and my music. And then as the years go by things begin to change, and then I hear stuff like this, that while I was getting killed there was a whole batch of people who were loving what they were hearing. While it was happening, I didn’t realize that.”
