Barry Manilow Says 5-Year-Old Granddaughter ‘Could Be Joan Rivers’: ‘She Knows How to Get a Laugh’ (Exclusive)

Jeff NelsonTue, March 31, 2026 at 5:30 PM UTC

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Barry Manilow first revealed to PEOPLE in 2023 that he and his husband, Garry Kief, were grandparents

Kief's daughter, Kirsten, welcomed a daughter a few years ago

"She's adorable, and she's funny," Manilow tells PEOPLE of his granddaughter, who is now 5

Barry Manilow may write the songs — but his granddaughter writes the jokes!

The music icon, 82, is opening up about his life as a grandfather after husband Garry Kief's daughter Kirsten welcomed a daughter a few years ago.

"She's adorable, and she's funny. I think she could probably be Joan Rivers if she doesn't watch out," Manilow says of his 5-year-old granddaughter, whose name the family prefers to keep private. "Really, she knows how to get a laugh!"

Barry Manilow with Joan Rivers in 1986Credit: Dave Hogan/Getty

Manilow — who will release his 33rd studio album, What a Time, on June 5 — has been spending time with loved ones as he's been recovering from a lobectomy he underwent in December to remove the diseased part of his left lung after being diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer in November.

“It has really, really made me take stock of my life," he told PEOPLE in a new cover story. "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,” Manilow, who is now cancer free, says of his cancer ordeal. “And the answers are yes. And as a matter of fact, there are more yeses than I ever thought.”

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Barry Manilow at home in Palm Springs on March 4, 2026Credit: John Russo

The cancer diagnosis and recovery period forced Manilow to postpone dates of his farewell arena tour. Scheduled to return to the stage on April 12, the "Copacabana (at the Copa)" singer has been doing vocal exercises and breathing lessons.

“I have to learn how to breathe again. Isn’t that crazy? It’s beyond frustrating. It’s just sad that I cannot do what I love doing, but maybe [by April 12] it’ll all be over and I’ll be able to go back to my old life,” Manilow says. “I have to get on that treadmill because I don’t want to throw it away. I want to know that if I can’t do it, I did everything I could do to go back on the road and do these 90-minute concerts. If I can’t do it, I want to know that it’s not because I didn’t try.”

Manilow first revealed to PEOPLE that he and Kief, his manager and partner of 47 years, had become grandparents in 2023.

Barry Manilow on the cover of the April 6, 2026 issue of PEOPLECredit: John Russo

"Garry’s daughter Kirsten adopted a little girl, and so I’m now a grandfather," the "Looks Like We Made It" singer told PEOPLE at the time. "I’ve never, ever thought about having a baby or having anything to do with [being] a father or any of that. And I’m watching this little girl — she’s 2½ — grow up and learn. This is a brand-new experience for me, and I really am enjoying it."

For more on Barry Manilow, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”