Barry Manilow is one of the most private, guarded celebrities around, but even a reclusive star such as himself needs to get out for a breath of air – and a vape.
The 82-year-old entertainer was doing just that as he was spotted on a rare outing in his hometown of Palm Springs, California on December 17.
Manilow appeared to be standing in a parking lot with vape pen in hand.
The electronic cigarette might raise some concern among his diehard fans, given his previous health problems.
The legendary singer picked up the pastime over a decade ago, having traded his heavy smoking habit of three packs of cigarettes a day to vaping.
Manilow told the London Evening Standard in 2012 that he’d been smoking since the age of nine.
Barry Manilow is one of the most private celebrities around but on December 17 he was spotted on a rare outing in Palm Springs with vape pen in hand
The legendary singer, 82, picked up the pastime over a decade ago, having traded his heavy smoking habit of three packs of cigarettes a day to vaping
‘Well, I smoked for 30 years. I started when I was nine years old. I grew up in Brooklyn,’ he said.
‘Then I stopped about 15, 20 years ago. Then I just started in Las Vegas and the band and I went down to a little club and somebody offered me a cigarette. And I was back.
‘Within a week I was back. Not on a pack a day, ’cause when I was really smoking I was on three packs a day – non filters. Oh yeah. I was a great smoker.’
Over the years Manilow has experienced multiple health woes including vocal cord issues, bronchial infections and throat cancer, which was successfully treated after its discovery in 2020.
He told the publication that he traded his heavy cigarette smoking habit for vaping over a decade ago.
Manilow added that vaping may not work for everybody, but it works for him.
‘Do they work? They do for me, my band and my crew, all of us who hated smoking but couldn’t stop,’ Manilow told The Evening Standard.
The Copacabana hitmaker has been seen vaping in public and at events before.
Barry has said that vaping may not work for everybody, but it works for him
The Copacabana hitmaker has been seen vaping in public and at events before this
The recent sighting comes as Manilow prepares to hit the stage for U.S. tour dates in January 2026; pictured on May 23, 2024 at The Palladium in London
He will perform in nine major cities including Orlando, Tampa, Charleston, Greensboro and Columbus and they mark the singer’s final concerts in each of these markets, per his website; pictured performing at The Grammys on February 1 in Los Angeles
The recent sighting comes as Manilow prepares to hit the stage for U.S. tour dates in January 2026.
He will perform in nine major cities including Orlando, Tampa, Charleston, Greensboro and Columbus and they mark the singer’s final concerts in each of these markets, according to his website.
Fans can expect the same high-energy performance he’s always delivered.
Manilow told Parade in 2023 he has so much energy that he can survive on just four hours of sleep a night.
The hitmaker said he believes that being from New York – where the lifestyle is so fast-paced – is why he has always had a lot of energy and not needed a lot of shut-eye.
‘I never sleep. I get four hours a night. That’s all I really need. It’s been that way for years,’ he told the magazine.
‘When you start out in New York, you’re always a New Yorker.
‘I just have a lot of energy; I talk fast, I think fast. Maybe it’s because New Yorkers are always moving, scrambling to get a seat on the subway or something.’
Despite having a lot of energy, the Mandy singer has overcome numerous health issues over the years, including bronchial pneumonia, a mouth tumor, heart problems and hip surgery, and admitted he’s amazed he can still put on a show.
Barry, who is notoriously private about his personal life, wed his longtime partner Garry Kief in 2014; pictured with Garry on February 14, 2016 in Beverly Hills
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper in 2019: ‘I’m fine, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m very old, I should not be able to do this.
‘You saw me going up those stairs on stage – there’s 14 steps up and 14 down, you would think I should be in a wheelchair or something.’
He’s also said his love of music and performing is what keeps him going.
The singer who ‘writes the songs that make the whole world sing’ has much more music yet to produce, he told Palm Springs Life in 2015.
‘And it’s a good thing I wound up successful in music, because if I didn’t do this, I’d be in trouble,’ he added.
‘Because I don’t know how to do anything else. And it’s really all I’m interested in. You’d think, after all these years, I’d have found all the colors that interest me — I’ve recorded pop, big band, Broadway, jazz … everything — but there’s always something more I haven’t done.’
