Post columnist Cindy Adams first reported the news about Minnelli, who was unable to attend friend Joan Rivers' funeral due to her back condition.

Minnelli told Adams, "I couldn’t go to Joan Rivers’ funeral, which I desperately wanted to because I loved her — but I couldn’t go because I can’t walk. I’m in bed. Going in for surgery.

"I broke my lower back. Remember a few years ago I was in a wheelchair because I had trouble with my spine? They operated on it then. Well, now, again. They’ll have to fuse it.

"I was picking up my dogs — and they jumped. And I got twisted and fell. I thought it’s nothing. But it wasn’t nothing. It became something. After an X-ray, seems I busted it and have to have it fused. The operation’s next week."

Liza Minnelli won Tony Awards for her performances in Flora, The Red Menace; and The Act. She also received a 1974 Special Tony Award for "adding lustre to the Broadway season."