Def Leppard guitarist reveals recurring cancer after donor transplant

Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell shared that his cancer has returned after undergoing a donor transplant last year.

The guitarist, 63, was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013, which returned in 2015. After undergoing a donor transplant, Campbell said it unfortunately wasn’t successful.

“There’s only been one time that I felt it was gonna kill me,” Campbell recently told radio station YSKL in El Salvador about battling the disease. “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,” he continued. “It was my only hope to survive.”

Campbell said he got the donor transplant in January 2025.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t stick,” he said. “So the cancer has returned, and I’m continuing treatments to manage it.”

The rocker said he’ll have to do another transplant within a few years with another donor, but insisted that he wasn’t letting it slow him down. He encouraged others who have been diagnosed with cancer to “keep moving forward.”

“The fact that I could still continue to work, that gives me something to live for — something that that you enjoy, that you’re passionate about, that you can wake up in the morning and look forward to,” he explained.

Campbell shared that getting a cancer diagnosis amplified his desire to live his life as much as possible.

“Life is for the living, and I encourage everyone to look after their own health,” he said. “And if you are unfortunate enough to get a cancer diagnosis to, you know, overcome the fear.”

He added, “Just don’t give in, you know?”

Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system and is highly treatable, according to the Mayo Clinic. Treatments can include chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplant and clinical trials.

Campbell joined Def Leppard in 1992 after the death of original member Steve Clark, whose death in 1991 was ruled an accidental overdose.

The iconic band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, and they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October 2025.

The musician has also worked with the bands White Snake, Thin Lizzy, Sweet Savage, Trinity and more.

Meanwhile, the “Pour Some Sugar on Me” band continues to tour. They have a show scheduled for Oct. 15 in Hollywood, Florida, and will then embark on a month-long Latin American tour.