By
- Brian Linder | blinder@pennlive.com
Cancer is a horrible disease that does not discriminate, and the country music world knows this well
Beloved country-music singer Dolly Parton died this week after a brief battle with the disease. Don Adams died earlier this year too, and late in 2025, Raul Malo, the frontman for The Mavericks, also diead after battling cancer
At least four country music stars — three aged 40 or younger — are currently bravely battling the disease
The following is a look at those performers and what we know about their diagnoses:
Jillian Cardarelli
Cardarelli recently revealed that she has started treatment for breast cancer
The singer shared photos from her hospital bed on Instagram and provided an update
“The first big step is behind me,” she wrote. “Now it’s time to heal while we wait for the next step in my treatment plan. Thank you to the incredible team at Dana-Farber for your kindness, compassion, and support throughout such a challenging and stressful process. I’m truly so grateful to be in your care
“Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me, checked in, and lifted me up,” she added. “One day at a time. As always … #CheckYourGirls.”
The 33-year-old first shared the news of her diagnosis and revealed some of the symptoms that she had with People Magazine
She followed it up with a post on social media
“If breast cancer can happen to an otherwise healthy young woman with no family history of breast cancer, negative genetic testing, and 7 years before routine screening is recommended, it can happen to anyone,” Cardarelli wrote on Instagram. “My hope is sharing this journey encourages other young women to get familiar with their bodies, trust their instincts, advocate for themselves, and never ignore something if it feels off. While this diagnosis has challenged me in every way imaginable, it has never shaken my faith. I don’t have all the answers yet, and I know the road ahead will continue to evolve, but I’m taking it one step at a time and trusting God. Through it all, I still wake up every day grateful for the gift of another day.
“You know your body better than anyone,” she added. “Trust your instincts and remember: you are the CEO of your own health.”
Cardarelli told People that she was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma in May
“I’ve had areas in my breasts that have been diagnosed with dense fibrous tissue since I was 25 years old that I’ve been getting looked at by ultrasound a couple of times, but nothing was ever seen,” she told People. “But then, I felt something a little different to me. I knew my body. I was a little more tired.”
She said that shortly afterward she felt a lump in her breast and had it examined
“I mean, it was shocking, but I knew something in my body was different,” she said
“I feel fear and sadness,” Cardarelli added. “I’m like, why did this happen? I do not fit the profile of somebody that should get cancer at 33 years old. So yes, there’s a little bit of anger there. But I’m not angry at God. I’m leaning on Him more than ever.”
Paul Cauthen
Just more than a year after announcing that he was battling thyroid cancer, Cauthen recently pulled back the curtain on his fight
It sounds like things have gone very well
“The cancer has shrunk,” the country music star told Whiskey Riff.“Now it’s calcified. It’s about to … I’m over it. I’ve gotten through it. It’s been a blessing. It’s gone from a five millimeter, about the size of a marble in my right thyroid lobe. Now it’s gone down from five millimeters to three millimeters to two, then it just sticks around 2 and it’s full calcified
“My body has put calcium all the way around this,” he added. “It’s just right in the middle, and it’s not harming anything. It’s not moving. Every three months, I do a checkup and a sonogram. I stay on top of it. I diet in a way to where I’m not feeding too much glucose. It hasn’t gone up, but that can happen.”
Cauthen, 40, announced his diagnosis on March 14, 2025. He then revealed that he would not undergo traditional treatment and would fight it holistically
“You can try other things,” Cauthen said. “I’m not saying it’s not smart to go get surgery or get something taken out of your body. I’m not ever gonna say that. I believe in all medicine, not just some. I believe in all types of recovery, not just one. Everybody else told me not to (do this and get surgery). My wife and I are so thankful I didn’t.”
Cauthen said he wanted to avoid the conventional treatments in part because he was afraid they might affect his voice. He also said he thought the lifestyle changes he made in treating it might prolong his life
“I told me wife, ‘In the end, cancer is going to save my life,’” he said. “I’m mindful of my blood, I’m getting tested. If anything, kind of comes up weird, I’ll know. Any of you, it’s not bad to go get checked up. Especially if you’re touching 40. It’s about time to get everything checked. You never know. But don’t let it freak you out. It doesn’t matter what stage they tell you you’re in. It can be beaten someway or somehow.”
Cauthen managed to put together a big year as he battled the disease, too
He hit the road touring not long after sharing the news and dropped a new album, “Book of Paul,” on what was nearly the one-year anniversary of his revelation
And recently he shared another major life announcement with fans
He is a father
“Jim Paul Cauthen born 7:58 a.m. this morning,” he wrote last week on his Instagramalong with a photo of his wife, Elizabeth, and their new son. “Thank you to @christushealth and all the drs and nurses for one of the most outstanding experiences we’ve ever had. Thank you Jesus. God bless all of you! @elizabethcauthen is the strongest woman in the world. God is good.”
Among those congratulating him were country music stars Tracy Lawrence and Koe Wetzel
Nat Myers
Myers is not letting his health keep him from the stage
The country and blues singer has been openly battling a rare cancer, and he recently revealed that the disease has grown in his lungs. That has pushed him into a new round of treatment, and it all sounds grueling
Despite that, Myers has continued to perform
“Back on the road, bad luck at my heels after a needed weekend with friends and family,” he wrote on Facebook. “Headed to Eureka Springs, Arkansas tonight. If you make an exodus to Frank Stanfords grave, that’s my thumbpick sitting on his stone. Lollapalooza next week. Hunter Walls and Casey Campbell will be joining me. Getcha on out, I’m in a handshaking shoot the shit kinda mood.”
“Heck yea HANG IN THERE,” Douglas Burton replied
“Please take care of yourself Nat, if you get tired rest!” Jill Dowdell wrote
“Sending you hugs and good vibes,” Rita Dolan wrote. “I had the pleasure of seeing you a few weeks ago with Gary Clark Jr. twice in the New York area. Stay strong.”
The 35-year-old shared a video recently, strumming his guitar and putting his talent on display, despite a warning from doctors
“I had chemo this Tuesday & a biopsy on my lung Wednesday & all that to say it’s got me takin it easy,” he wrote alongside the video. “Docs didn’t tell me I couldn’t sang, but to be fair they didn’t say I could neither. Said I’d cough up some blood but then I’d be good and that’s what happened. I think I’m good but knock on wood. Last week I was feeling a little sorry for myself but hangs north the border at Winnipeg got me feelin ten toes down
“But all that to say I’m up early thinking loving country blues says something about you,” he continued. “It ain’t so much an interest it’s getting thrown into a kind of cahoots. Like knowing a kind of secret language, we are all widows sons and daughters. When I tell those in the know, I’m always offered a bed, or a pallet, or invited to the birthday party. I offer the same. It’s just part the deal, I wade the same river. We know we are all back-alley searchers, lowdown and glad for it. A kind of sign of goodwill, a candle in the window. We know the meanings of certain signs and symbols. Hang your light high, when the way gets dark, you likelier to find a friend that not. Blessed to be forgotten type. American, Spain, Japan, where all, Antartica, too, bet your ass someone’s listened to least kind hearted blues. I’m sure there’s exceptions to the rule, sometimes ain’t nobody can just get along, but that’s mostly the facts as I seen em rambling around.”
The singer recently revealed a heartbreaking update on his cancer
“I got some news I wasn’t looking forward to but is always around the bend with what I’m fighting,”Myers wrote on Instagram.“Scans didn’t come back good. Not terrible, but not good. Some of the cancer in my lungs has grown. Not a lot, but enough to be noticed in the scans. That’s the thing with cancer and treatment: on a moment’s notice, a plan’s got to be reevaluated, a new route has to be sought. Radiation, a combo chemo, immunotherapy, surgery, it’s all up in the air again.
“But it looks like the old days (crazy to think they’re ‘the old days’ to me) are rearing their ugly head,” he continued. “I continue to defy the current, and swim against the breakers. One day I’ll get sunk, but hopefully not no time soon. It’s been a month of highs. And lows now too. (Expletive) it. We continue on. Bummer news, but is what it is. Ain’t no quittin times. Ain’t no good days without the setbacks. You adapt, & find a way
“Thank yall for the well wishes & thank you to the doctors and their teams for keepin me kickin.”
Myers said he has intimal sarcoma
The Sarcoma Foundation of America said intimal sarcoma is “a rare, aggressive malignant tumor originating in the inner lining of large blood vessels or the heart.”
“The main thing is in my pulmonary artery,” Myers wrote. “If that sounds stressful, it’s cuz it is. I have undergone dozens of chemo infusions since I was first diagnosed in 2025, including red devil, ifosfamide, and until recently a combo called gem-tax. I received eleven cycles of gem-tax, before fluid buildup in my lungs last month led us to change things up.”
Myers had a brutal 2025, but he closed the year with an inspiring message that he shared on the platform
“25 you nearly got me,”he wrote.“You may have taken my daddy but you didn’t get to take poor me. 25 it was because of you I learned how much I’s loved. I began wanting to be known for my enemies, but I leave wanting to be known for my family and friends. I always death was born with dead-aim, but I learned even he miss his mark some days. I thought I was strong, but learned my strength came from so many doctors & nurses, the ten thousand hands I shook since I got my chance, the bread that been broken for me, since I first started playin.
“This good village that gave me back my life & have asked noting in return,” he continued. “My fingernails growing brittle as chalk, my braids falling out one by one – still I’m blessed to play my songs. 25, when I hobbled out my sick bed after bein told I would never walk out again, I knew I was a brother of Lazarus, I knew I was born again. You taught me the blessing and the curse, the poisons and the cures. I‘m a long shot that got to come home, starin into the eyes of death as death stared back at me. I knew completely, truly what blues is.
“Round 40 infusions since February,” he wrote. “I’ve honestly lost track.”
He added that he was “given less than a week, that I wouldn’t see March, let alone 2026, but now I won’t settle for nothin short of 2066.”
He went on to thank everyone “for standing in my corner even though all our time is hard nowadays.”
“I have seen the woods lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep,” he wrote. “Keep on goin, it get better.”
Richard Sterban
The country music world was rocked last year when Sterban, the long-time bass singer for the legendary group The Oak Ridge Boys, made a heartbreaking revelation
The reveal?
Well, Sterban announced that he has been battling pancreatic cancer. He shared that news back in late September 2025. And, considering the uphill battle that fighting pancreatic cancer can be, it is no surprise that Sterban has been out of action and focusing on that for most of the days since
But that was not the case on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, 2026
On those days, instead of taking it easy, Sterban took the stage alongside his boys at the Grand Ole Opry for one of its legendary hits
“Richard … coming out to sing with us on ‘Elvira’ was a soul-stirring experience for me,”lead singer Duane Allen said.“I am reading thousands of comments from those of you who felt the same way. Having Richard on stage with us again was one of God’s greatest blessings.”
Another member of the group, William Lee Golden, also shared a post about Sterban returning to the stage and congratulated him on being able to return
Fans were quick to respond with love and appreciation for Sterban
The singer has been a member of the legendary group for 54 years
“In March of (2025), I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,” Sterban said when he announced his diagnosis last year. “But I am under the care of the best cancer doctors in the country and, with the help of the Good Lord above, I believe I will be able to get through this.”
“I want to thank everyone, especially the fans, for your concern, and I would appreciate your continued prayers,” he added. “Most days I’m feeling very good, and I hope to be back out on the road in several months.”
