Barbra Streisand Is ‘Doing Her Best to Keep’ Pal Barry Manilow’s ‘Spirits Up’ Amid His Cancer Battle

Barbra Streisand has been checking in on longtime pal Barry Manilow non-stop amid his cancer battle, a source tells Examiner.

“Barbra and Barry always had a playful, fun friendship,” says the source. “But Barry’s serious health struggles have changed the nature of [it] a bit, and Barbra is doing her best to keep his spirits up with text messages and voicemails, even when they’re both on opposite sides of the country.”

The “Mandy” singer, 83, recently opened up about his stage 1 lung cancer diagnosis.

“They don’t even know how long I had this thing sitting on me. It could have been years,” Manilow told People of the cancerous spot found on his lung. “If it had gone any further, then I would be up [expletive] creek. It just so happened that it hadn’t spread, and boy oh boy, I thought I might be dying.”

He and Streisand, 84, have “both lost a lot of friends in the last 15 or so years,” the source adds, “and they’re determined to be there for one another right to the end.”

Manilow is now cancer-free, but his recovery hasn’t been without its challenges.

As Examiner previously reported, the “Copacabana” crooner abruptly cancelled his Lexington, Kentucky, concert on Tuesday, August 4, just hours before it was scheduled to start. He previously postponed the show in March in order to undergo a lobectomy.

“It’s upsetting for everybody that Barry is having to cancel performances, but it’s the right thing to do,” says the source, “and Barbra is backing him up.”