Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell’s cancer has returned after entering remission last year.
Campbell, 63, was declared cancer-free last year following a decades-long battle with Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell’s cancer has come back after entering remission last year. Getty
The guitarist revealed in a recent interview that he underwent a stem cell donor transplant in 2023, however, it “didn’t stick.”
“There’s only been one time that I felt it was going to kill me, in the winter of 2023,” he told Radio YSKL’s Francisco Sigüenza on Wednesday.
“I got really scared about what was happening and the pace at which it was happening. And I realised at that point that I had to do a donor transplant. It was my only hope to survive.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t stick. So, the cancer has returned.”
Hodgkin Lymphoma is a rare type of cancer that impacts the lymphatic system.
A patient is offered a stem cell transplant if the cancer has a likely chance of returning, according to Cancer Council Australia.
Campbell said he will continue treatment to manage it.
“I’ll probably have to do another transplant within a few years with another donor to try and see if maybe that would cure me. In the meantime, I’m certainly not slowing down.”
Def Leppard wrapped up a residency in Las Vegas earlier this year. The band is slated to tour Mexico and South America later this year.
Def Leppard are an English rock band that formed in Sheffield in 1977. Getty
Campbell said playing shows and getting on stage is what keeps him going.
“I think you have to keep moving forward and I do think that that’s what helped me, even when I was at at a really low ebb with cancer treatment,” he told the radio station.
“The fact that I could still continue to work, that gives me something to live for – something that you enjoy, that you’re passionate about, that you can wake up in the morning and look forward to.
“That deflects from focusing too much on cancer.”
Def Leppard are an English rock band that formed in Sheffield in 1977. They are known for pioneering a radio-friendly hard rock and heavy metal sound, inspired by pop melodies.
They rose to global stardom in the 1980s thanks to MTV and hugely successful albums like Pyromania and Hysteria.