Barry Manilow Taking a Break From Las Vegas Residency After Canceling Shows: ‘We All Need To Sit Down and Shut Up’

Barry Manilow is taking a break. The legendary “Copacabana” singer posted a note to fans on Tuesday (Aug. 25) announcing that he is pulling the plug on planned residency shows at the International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas planned for this weekend, as well as six shows scheduled for September in order to rest and recuperate.

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“Hi everybody — Barry here,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “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,” he added. “But it seems that we were pushing a little too hard.”

The decision came after Manilow, 83, postponed his planned 2026 arena tour and delayed his February residency shows in Vegas in the wake of surgery for lung cancer in December. He was slated to return to the stage at Westgate last Thursday (Aug. 20), but that show was called off just before curtain, followed by the cancelation of last weekend’s Friday and Saturday gigs due to reported “technical and vocal problems.”

In addition to last week’s The Hits Come Home residency shows at Westgate, Manilow’s note indicates that he has pulled the plug on concerts slated for this weekend (Aug. 27, 28 and 29), as well as Sept. 17, 18, 9, 24, 25 and 26; at press time Westgate had not yet removed those dates from their calendar and a spokesperson for Manilow had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.

Manilow’s note to fans continued with his signature good humor, with the singer writing, “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. Hope to see you then.”

The message ended with Manilow adding that new Westgate dates will be announced next week.

Prior to last week’s Westgate call-off, Manilow postponed a show in Lexington, Ky. just before curtain on Aug. 4, citing “unforeseen circumstances“; it was the second time that show did not go on, following a March postponement in the wake of Manilow’s lung cancer treatment.

Manilow had treatment for stage 1 lung cancer in December, including surgery to remove a cancerous spot from his left lung, which resulted in the singer pushing back his planned February Las Vegas residency dates, as well as his February, March and April arena shows on doctor’s advice to rest.