Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell reveals he's in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma — 12 years after diagnosis
Def Leppard guitarist and background vocalist Vivian Campbell revealed he is in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma after being diagnosed over a decade ago, saying that he owes his donor a beer 'or two or three.'
'I did a PET scan in the middle of April, and I'm 100% clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years,' Campbell said on SiriusXM's 'Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk'. 'I am obviously overjoyed. You couldn't ask for more than that. I had an incredible donor.'
The 62-year-old was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2013 and said he went 'through the mill with all sorts of chemo and immunotherapy and combination therapies' until he received a 'really, really successful' bone marrow transplant on New Year's Eve in 2024.
5 Vivian Campbell is in remission after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2013.for Live Nation UK
Campbell shared that his previous efforts to combat cancer didn't stick and that it 'kept coming back.'
'Ten years ago, I did an oncologist stem cell transplant, which means using my own stem cells,' Campbell explained. 'That didn't work. The cancer kept coming back. And then a couple of years ago, it really got bad… the doctors told me my only chance for a cure was to do a donor transplant.'
The Northern Ireland-born musician was initially supposed to receive a transplant after Thanksgiving. However, he lost his initial donor 10 days before the surgery, which he described as a 'kick in the nuts.'
Doctors found a 21-year-old donor with '10 out of 10' genetic markers to step in and save Campbell.
5 Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen performed at Marvel Stadium on November 14, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia.
WireImage
5 Campbell skipped the band's first show of 2025 as he recovered from a bone marrow transplant.
WireImage
'He put his name on the donor registry, for no reason other than he's a good person,' Campbell said. 'There are a lot of good people out there, I'm glad to say.'
The 'Love Bites' guitarist claimed he won't find out the identity of his donor for a while.
'After two years, they give you the option to contact your donor,' Campbell said. 'So you can reach out to them. I would imagine [that] in this day and age it's via e-mail.'
5 Def Leppard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
Campbell plans to reach out to his savior and 'buy him a beer or two or three.'
'If they want to correspond with you, they can,' Campbell said. 'They don't have to. But obviously, it's a life-saving proposition, so I'd certainly want to express my gratitude.'
The rocker recovered in the hospital for nearly a month after the transplant, which caused him to skip the band's first show of 2025.
5 Campbell joined the legendary rock band in 1992.
Dimitrios Kambouris
'I just have to keep my head down and my spirits up for the next 100 days of primary recovery,' Campbell wrote in a statement on the band's Instagram page in January.
Campbell joined Def Leppard in 1992 after guitarist Steve Clark died from a lethal combination of alcohol and prescription drugs in 1991.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a group of blood cancers that start in lymphocytes — white blood cells in your lymphatic system,' according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The nonprofit group adds that Hodgkin lymphoma is considered 'one of the most curable cancers.'
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