Formed in 1975 England, Saxon ushered in the new wave of British heavy metal. Fifty years and eight UK Top 40 albums later, the band still hits the road regularly. Unfortunately, Saxon recently made the difficult decision to cancel 10 shows due to lead vocalist Peter “Biff” Byford needing emergency surgery. Now, Byford is opening up on the health issue that continues to impact the band’s touring schedule.

“Absolutely Rubbish”: Saxon Cancels Shows Due to Biff Byford’s Diagnosis

In a video shared to Saxon’s social media pages Friday (Aug. 15), Biff Byford revealed that he has been battling prostate cancer.

The “Denim and Leather” singer has struggled with health issues in the past few years, suffering a heart attack in 2019 that led to triple bypass heart surgery. Five years later, he needed another operation to treat a heart rhythm abnormality.

This time, an MRI revealed a small tumor on Byford’s prostate gland. The frontman, 74, says he successfully underwent emergency surgery on July 8. Unfortunately, he now needs a brief period of chemotherapy treatments, which means Saxon must now cancel more shows.

“The operation was successful; they got all the cancer out. They just need to make sure there’s none floating around in my bloodstream,” Byford explained.

[RELATED: Saxon’s Biff Byford Bluntly Opposes KISS Avatars: “I Don’t Think They Should Do It”]

Saxon must skip a festival appearances scheduled for later this month at Trutnoff Open Air in the Czech Republic. They must also sit out this year’s Neuborn Open Air in Germany, rescheduling that gig for the festival’s 2026 edition.

Additionally, the Yorkshire rockers will postpone their upcoming tour of Spain and France, with those shows moving to April and May of 2026.

“We never like canceling shows or postponing shows, it’s absolutely rubbish,” Byford said.

Saxon Eyes November Return to the Road

However, Biff Byford assured Saxon fans that the band’s UK and Ireland tour in November will still proceed as planned.

“That’s going to be great, I should be over it by then,” he said, adding, “We’re gonna see you all in November. Keep the faith, and have a fantastic summer.”

And on the upside, Byford said, he can now concentrate on finishing the band’s upcoming 25th album.

“That’s the upside of having some free time,” the rocker said.

Featured image by Rune Hellestad – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images