Music legend set to perform in Wales after vowing previous tour was his last

One of the most successful music artists of all time, with a career spanning over six decades, has shared a message with fans ahead of a highly anticipated Cardiff date this summer.

Hard on the heels of his sold out fifteen concerts at The London Palladium, Grammy, Tony, and Emmy award winning music icon Barry Manilow will return to the UK for his Last Last Concerts in Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham, and London.

With a Cardiff date scheduled for 14 June, Manilow has addressed fans who thought his last visit to the UK would be his final one.

In response to media attention, Manilow released the following statement: “I swear, I SWEAR I really meant it when I said goodbye to everyone in the UK on the last night of our fantastic run at the great London Palladium.

“The audiences there were fantastic as usual and that last night was very moving, knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing my U.K. friends anymore.

“It was odd flying home because I wasn’t tired, my voice had held up for the entire run and each show was more exciting than the last. I wasn’t even out of breath at the end of each show.

“But I guess “leave ‘em wanting more” was a good rule to follow. After all, I’m 100 years old and any day now I’m probably going to lose my hair, gain a big pot belly and need a cane to dance around to “Copacabana”.

“But, as of now I can still run around the stage, I can still hit the high F Natural at the end of “Even Now” and I still look fabulous!

“But I said goodbye and I meant it. Sort of. There was just one thing. I don’t wanna say goodbye! So we’re coming back.

“We’re going to have a great, big Barry Manilow concert! Hope you all come. We’ll have a ball!”

Barry Manilow’s hit recordings include “Could It Be Magic”, “Looks Like We Made It”, “Mandy”, “I Write the Songs”, “Ready to Take a Chance Again”, “Can’t Smile Without You”, “Weekend in New England”, and “Copacabana (At the Copa)”.

Manilow has recorded and released 51 Top 40 singles on the Adult Contemporary Chart, including 13 that hit number one, 28 that appeared within the top ten, and 36 that reached the top twenty. He has released 13 platinum and six multi-platinum albums. Although not a favorite artist of music critics, Manilow has been praised by his peers in the recording industry. In the 1970s, Frank Sinatra predicted: “He’s next.”

In December, the music icon, 82, revealed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was undergoing treatment. In an exclusive with People Magazine — who recently announced that his 33rd studio album, What a Time, will be released on 5 June — has detailed the experience for the first time.

“You just don’t even think about [how fragile life is]. And suddenly, you have lung cancer. 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?’” Manilow says.

He added: “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,” he says of going through cancer. “And the answers are yes. And as a matter of fact, there are more yeses than I ever thought.”

Find out more about Manilow’s Cardiff tour date and purchase tickets here.