Barry Manilow sets UBS Arena show, his 'final Long Island performance'

Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow has added UBS Arena to his ongoing tour, a stop that will mark "his final Long Island performance," according to the venue.

The April 13 Elmont show is part of what Manilow is calling "The Last Concerts." Tickets for the general public will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at barrymanilow.com.

Manilow, 82, announced in December that he had been diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer and moved 10 January dates to future months. After undergoing surgery (thanks to the early detection, he posted last month on Instagram, his medical team is optimistic), the Emmy-, Grammy- and Tony Award-winning artist is now expanding his tour: He recently added six new March shows in mostly Southern states, according to Pollstar, and his latest round includes seven new April shows in the Northeast.

At each show, the Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee will honor a local educator with the Manilow Music Teacher Award, part of an education fund he launched in 2008. The award comes with $5,000 in cash and $5,000 to be used for classroom instrument purchases. Nominees will be revealed Feb. 19 and online voting will end March 19.

Manilow, a soft-pop balladeer who rose to fame in an era of rock and disco, racked up an impressive list of hits that included "Looks Like We Made It," "Can’t Smile Without You," "I Write the Songs" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." The latter became a 1985 television movie for CBS in which Manilow played the tragic hero, Tony, opposite Annette O’Toole as the showgirl, Lola. Though Manilow’s hits had stopped coming by the 1990s, he continued to release studio albums — a total of 31 so far — and in 2005 launched the first of his popular Las Vegas residencies.

And he’s still going: Manilow’s latest single is "Once More Before I Go," a cover of Peter Allen's song, which was released in September and is currently at No. 13 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Though the song’s title suggests a career capstone, Manilow will reportedly release new music this year.

Also in April, Manilow will receive the President’s Award from the American Advertising Federation for his work on iconic commercial jingles for Band-Aid, McDonald’s, State Farm ("Like a good neighbor") and more.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com