Guitarist Chris Spedding has been diagnosed with large B-cell high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has begun an intensive course of chemotherapy expected to last nine months, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched to support the veteran musician and his wife, Jody.
Spedding, 82, began chemotherapy on August 20 following his diagnosis in recent months. The treatment will prevent him from working and touring for the foreseeable future, with the fundraising campaign seeking to help the couple cover essential living expenses and additional medical costs during his treatment.
For more than six decades, Spedding has made a career out of being the guy you call when you need a great guitar player. His résumé runs from 1960s session work to a solo chart success during the U.K. glam-pop era, and includes credits with Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Elton John, John Cale, Jack Bruce, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney and Robert Gordon.
He also played an important role in the emergence of the Sex Pistols, producing and bringing the then-unknown band to the attention of the wider music industry.
Spedding has never seemed particularly interested in resting on that résumé. In a previous interview, he admitted that despite everything he has accomplished, he has spent much of his career wondering where the next job was coming from.
“I’ve been feeling like that for 50 years,” he told Guitar Player in 2024. “I’ve never had the sort of success that means that I could retire. I’ve always got to work. Fortunately, something usually crops up.”
That attitude has been a defining part of Spedding’s career as one of rock’s most distinctive voices when it comes to the electric guitar. “I would never turn work down,” he said. “It didn’t matter who it was.” For a session guitarist, he explained, you never really know what you’re walking into — or what might come of it.
“Something that seems unlikely to be good could turn out to be the best thing you ever did.”
Spedding’s work has taken him through some of the most important corners of British and American rock music. He became a longtime collaborator of rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon, contributed guitar to several of Bryan Ferry’s biggest-selling solo albums and worked across a remarkably broad range of styles and artists.
Yet Spedding has also been candid about the perfectionism that comes with that kind of career. “I don’t really listen to anything that I’ve played on,” he told GP. “For about 99 percent of it, there’s always something I wish I’d done better.”
Now, after more than 60 years of making records and playing stages around the world, Spedding faces a period in which he will have to put that working life on hold.
The GoFundMe campaign is seeking support for Spedding and Jody as he undergoes the nine-month chemotherapy treatment, helping cover living expenses and additional medical costs while he is unable to work and tour.
“Anyone who knows Chris knows he is a kind, generous soul who would step up for anyone in need,” says his GoFundMe page. “For decades, he has given us unforgettable music. Now, it is our turn to rally around him to show our appreciation of him during this challenging time.”
