By
- Brian Linder | blinder@pennlive.com
Vibut there was hope last year that his fight would be over
That is because in January 2025, Campbell received a bone marrow transplant. Sadly, the Def Leppard guitarist revealed in a recent interview that the treatment did not work
“Unfortunately, I have met people in my life who, when they’ve gotten a cancer diagnosis, they’ve only focused on that,” Campbell said in an interview with El Salvador’s Radio YSKL FM. “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.”
That was when he revealed his relapse
“There’s only been one time that I felt it was gonna kill me,” he added. “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 Last In Line. I’m also rally driving, ‘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.”
Campbell added that “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 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.”
Campbell raised eyebrows in early 2025 when he missed Def Leppard’s first show of the year. That was when he revealed that he had received a transplant
“Thank you for all recent messages and support,” Campbell wrote on social media. “As you all may know, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma several years ago. I recently had a bone marrow transplant as part of my treatment plan, and it’s safe to say thus far it’s been a very successful transplant! I just have to keep my head down and my spirits up for the next 100 days of primary recovery.”
LouderSound.com reportedthat Campbell has been battling Hodgkin lymphoma since 2013
“I’m still dealing with the lymphoma,” Campbell reportedly told the Lymphoma Voices podcast in 2023. “It’s sort of like — it’s an American expression — Whac-a-Mole. You beat something back and then it pops up somewhere else. But it’s been a pretty consistent battle, but it hasn’t been too difficult for me. I deal with it fine. I’ve been able to live my life.”
Campbell told the podcast that for the bulk of his journey he has been able to treat the cancer with immunotherapy
“Starting in June of 2015, I started taking a drug called pembrolizumab,” he said. “I remember that at the time my doctors wanted me to do radiation and maybe a combination of radiation and chemo. And I just thought, ‘Well, let’s just try this immunotherapy thing. Let’s see if this works’ So I managed to get on the trial. I’m happy to say that it worked well for me.”
