Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell says his cancer has returned after a donor transplant failed to eliminate the disease, but he has no plans to slow down.
Campbell was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013 and underwent a donor bone marrow transplant in January 2025. He later said he was in remission, but in a new interview with YSKL-FM, Campbell revealed that the transplant was unsuccessful and that he is continuing treatment to manage the cancer.
“There’s only been one time that I felt it was going to kill me,” he said. “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.
“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.”
Campbell said he will likely need another transplant “within a few years,” using a different donor. For now, however, the guitarist intends to continue with his music and pursue another passion: rally driving.
I’ve met people in my life who think, ‘Oh, I can’t do anything. I need to stay in bed.’ I’ve never felt that way.”
— Vivian Campbell
“I’m certainly not slowing down,” said Campbell, whose main electric guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop signature model. “I’m doing as much with my life as possible; not just with Def Leppard and with Last In Line,” the group he formed in 2012 with his fellow former Dio members to perform the music of the late Ronnie James Dio.
“I’m also rally driving — I always wanted to do that. … I love cars and I love driving. As a child I thought, ‘If I don’t play guitar for a living, I’m gonna be a race car driver.’ I’m very, very, very fortunate and blessed that I get to do both.”
Campbell said his experience with cancer has never led him to put his life on hold.
“I’ve met people in my life who 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,” he said.
“I’ve always felt like I’m gonna continue to live my life as much as possible — in fact, even more so. … But I also consider myself very fortunate because I caught my cancer early; it’s always been more about managing my cancer.”
Campbell acknowledged that a cancer diagnosis inevitably brings fear, but encouraged others facing the disease not to let that fear dictate how they live.
“So, yeah, life is for the living. And I encourage everyone…if you’re 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’ve got to realize just how to manage it and how to deal with it as best as possible. And just don’t give in.”
