Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell has revealed that he is "completely in remission", following a 12 year battle with Hodgkin Lymphoma.
The rocker shared this update, while appearing on Sirius XM, where he said that he had been “through the mill with all sorts of chemo and immunotherapy and combination therapies". He also added that he had undergone a stem cell transplant which "didn't work".
“The cancer kept coming back, and then a couple of years ago, it really got bad. So it was the first time in having to deal with it that I was seriously concerned about it. And the doctors told me really my only chance for [a] cure was to do a donor [stem cell] transplant. And that's exactly what I did", Campbell said.
He also added: “I started doing more chemo in preparation for it. And then right after the tour, they started giving me very hardcore chemo leading up to the transplant".
Campbell also explained how he suffered a huge blow, when he lost his donor, just two weeks before his scheduled transplant.
He said, “But I was very fortunate that they found me another one in December. And on New Year's Eve, I went into hospital. I was in for about three and a half weeks, and I did what has turned out to be a really, really successful transplant".
Despite missing Def Leppard's first show of 2025, Vivian Campbell revealed that his transplant eventually worked.
“I did a PET scan in the middle of April and I'm a hundred percent clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years. And I am obviously overjoyed. You couldn't ask for more than that", he explained.
Elsewhere, Campbell also added that he was grateful to the donor, adding that the whole process of donating can be tough.
“It causes a lot of discomfort and bone pain. So it's not for nothing that somebody would do that. It is a pretty heavy lift, and I'm just glad there are some great people in the world.”
“I don't get to know who he is for a couple of years,” Campbell said, adding, “I'm gonna buy him a beer — or two or three".
