Soft rock legend 's 'nightmare' stage one lung battle began last November with two bouts of bronchitis and sore hips.
The doctor ordered an MRI for the 82-year-old winner - who smoked cigarettes from age nine to 39 and later vaped - which revealed a dot in his lung.
'They called me and said, "Could be cancer." That's a bad word. "Not me. F*** you. I can't have cancer,"' Manilow (born Pincus) recalled in his People cover story on Tuesday.
'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 s***'s creek. It just so happened that it hadn't spread, and boy oh boy, I thought I might be dying.'
A month later, the Sun Shine singer - who's only an Oscar away from elite EGOT status - underwent a lobectomy to remove the diseased lobe on his left lung and spent a week in the ICU.
'I don't remember it, thank goodness, because it was a nightmare,' Manilow said.
Soft rock legend Barry Manilow's 'nightmare' stage one lung cancer battle began last November with two bouts of bronchitis and sore hips (pictured March 3)
'I'm one of the lucky ones; I don't have to have chemo, radiation and all that stuff.'
The Copacabana hitmaker is now cancer-free, but the health scare really made him take stock of his life.
'This made me stop and think about: Have I done what I wanted to do, and have I made people happy?' Manilow questioned.
The 82-year-old Grammy winner - who smoked cigarettes from age nine to 39 and later vaped - underwent a lobectomy to remove the diseased lobe on his left lung (pictured January 2)
'I don't remember it, thank goodness, because it was a nightmare,' Manilow said. 'I'm one of the lucky ones; I don't have to have chemo, radiation and all that stuff.'
The Copacabana hitmaker - who's only an Oscar away from elite EGOT status - is now cancer-free, but the health scare really made him take stock of his life: 'This really rocked me but I'm getting stronger'
Manilow had the love and support of his manager Garry Kief (R, pictured in 2022), whom he wed in 2014 after 36 years of dating
On June 5, the Sun Shine singer will release his 33rd studio album, What a Time, the first with original material in nearly 15 years
But first, Manilow - who pulls 4.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify - is next scheduled to perform April 13 at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY (pictured July 12)
It was the Dancin' in the Aisles singer's second time down the aisle after his high school sweetheart Susan Deixler.
