Barry Manilow is getting candid about aging, cosmetic work, and the health scare that changed his outlook on life. In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the 82-year-old singer joked about his youthful appearance while shutting down rumors that he relies on Botox to stay looking fresh.
“I look fantastic, but I’m a hundred years old, right?” Manilow quipped. “I don’t know how that happened, by the way — I don’t get Botox or anything.”
One facelift, no Botox
When asked directly whether he’d ever had cosmetic work done, Manilow admitted he did undergo one facelift years ago while living in Los Angeles. “No!” he initially replied before clarifying: “I must say: There was one time when we lived in L.A. that I did do a facelift. But after that it’s just been a little here, a little there.”
The Grammy-winning singer drew a line between major cosmetic surgery and smaller touch-ups. “Work is like a facelift, and I only had one of those,” he explained. “The rest of it — I see something falling down, sure, I’ll do that. I’m as vain as anybody else.”
He even laughed about an old family comment: “One of my old friends, his mother said, ‘I always knew he was talented, but when did he get so handsome?’ ”
Lung cancer discovery
The interview also touched on a much more serious chapter in Manilow’s life. Last December, he revealed he had been diagnosed with Stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer, a frightening discovery that came after what seemed like a stubborn case of bronchitis. The singer battled bronchitis for 11 weeks in late 2025 before doctors ordered an MRI, which revealed a cancerous spot on his left lung. Thankfully, the disease was caught early and had not spread.
“It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news,” Manilow said at the time.
Diagnosis forced him to confront mortality
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Manilow reflected on how quickly life can change. “You just don’t even think about (how fragile life is). And suddenly, you have lung cancer,” he said. “But I’m still here. I’m not all here; there’s part of me that isn’t here — they took out a part of me, and now I’ve got to figure out, ‘What do I do?’ ”
Now cancer-free, Manilow has been enjoying a career resurgence. In March, his new song Once Before I Go cracked the top 10 on the adult contemporary charts, making him the only artist ever to score an adult contemporary hit in six straight decades. He’s also preparing to release a new project, What a Time, in June.
Other celebrities on cosmetic surgery
Manilow is not the only celebrity recently opening up about cosmetic surgery and aging. Rosie O’Donnell has also been speaking openly about her recent facelift journey. Earlier this week, O’Donnell shared unfiltered before-and-after photos following a lower deep plane facelift, a procedure designed to create subtler, more natural-looking results. The comedian said her perspective on plastic surgery shifted after losing 50 pounds, which left her feeling like she looked more “haunted” than refreshed.
In a deeply personal Substack poem titled decisions, O’Donnell admitted she once believed facelifts were something she would “never — ever” do. “I thought it was a betrayal. Of feminism. Of aging. Of our team of women worldwide,” she wrote.
