Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell says his cancer has returned – but he’s determined to keep living life to the fullest.
The 63-year-old rocker underwent a donor bone marrow transplant in January 2025 after first being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013. He took time out to recover before rejoining the Pour Some Sugar On Me hitmakers in May this year, and a month later revealed he was in remission. He has now confirmed the cancer is back and expects to need another transplant.
Despite the setback, Vivian says he refuses to let the illness define him – and urges other cancer patients to stop centring their lives around their diagnosis.
Speaking on El Salvador’s Radio YSKL FM, he said: “Well, I think you have to keep moving forward. And I do think that that’s what helped me, even when I was at a really low ebb with cancer treatment. 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. I think that deflects, that takes away from focusing too much on cancer.”
He continued: “Unfortunately, I have met people in my life who, when they’ve gotten a cancer diagnosis, they’ve only focused on that. And they think, ‘Oh, I can’t do anything. I need to stay in bed. I can’t eat this. I can’t do that. I can’t go there.’ I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always felt like I’m gonna continue to live my life as much as possible. In fact, even more so. After getting a cancer diagnosis, it amplifies that desire to tick all the boxes, to do the things you wanna do. But I also consider myself very fortunate because I caught my cancer early. So, it’s always been more about managing my cancer.”
Confirming he was no longer cancer-free, Vivian went on: “There’s only been one time that I felt it was gonna kill me. In the winter of 2023, 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. And that’s what I did. I did that in January of ’25. I did a donor transplant. Unfortunately, it didn’t stick. So the cancer has returned. And I’m continuing treatments 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. But in the meantime, I’m certainly not slowing down. I’m doing as much with my life as possible, not just with Def Leppard and with [his side project] Last In Line. I’m also rally driving, ’cause I always wanted to do that. So I’ve been doing that more and more, ’cause I love cars and I love driving. And as a child, I thought, ‘If I don’t play guitar for a living, I’m gonna be a race car driver.’ So, I’m very, very, very fortunate and blessed that I get to do both.”
He added: “So, yeah, life is for the living. And I encourage everyone to look after their own health. And if you are unfortunate enough to get a cancer diagnosis, to overcome the fear. Fear is inevitable when you’re first told those words. But once you get over that, you gotta realise just how to manage it and how to deal with it as best as possible, and just don’t give in.”
