VIVIAN CAMPBELL Says His 'Cancer Has Returned' Once Again: 'I'm Continuing Treatments To Manage It'

In a new interview with Francisco Sigüenza of El Salvador's Radio YSKL FM, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell spoke about how being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2013 had changed his perspective on life and his approach to living it. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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.

"There's only been one time that I felt it was gonna kill me," Vivian admitted. "In the winter of 2023, I got really scared about what was happening and the pace at which it was happening. And I realized 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 [Vivian's long-running 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.

"So, yeah, life is for the living," Campbell added. "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 realize just how to manage it and how to deal with it as best as possible, and just don't give in."

Back in June 2025, Campbell said that he was "completely in remission" from Hodgkin lymphoma. During an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", the now-63-year-old musician explained that he had been "through the mill with all sorts of chemo and immunotherapy and combination therapies." Campbell disclosed that he even had a stem cell transplant with his own cells, which "didn't work." "The cancer kept coming back, and then a couple of years ago, it really got bad," he said at the time. "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."

The early 2025 treatment forced Vivian to miss DEF LEPPARD's first concert of that year but the guitarist told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" at the time that he later got the news that the transplant worked. "I did a PET scan in the middle of April [of 2025] 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 said.

Campbell — who before joining DEF LEPPARD in 1992 was well known for his work with DIO and WHITESNAKE — went public with his Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in June 2013.

Vivian underwent three separate spells of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, only for his Hodgkin's lymphoma to return.

Seven years ago, Campbell underwent spine surgery.

Vivian and his DEF LEPPARD bandmates were finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2019 — 14 years after the British rockers first became eligible.

DEF LEPPARD's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", arrived in May 2022 via UMe.

Press photo credit: Ross Halfin