Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell reveals hes in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma 12 years after diagnosis

Def Leppard guitarist and background vocalist Vivian Campbell revealed he is in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma after being diagnosed over a decade ago, saying that he owes his donor a beer “or two or three.”“I did a PET scan in the middle of April, and I’m 100% clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years,” Campbell said on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk”.“I am obviously overjoyed.

You couldn’t ask for more than that.I had an incredible donor.”The 62-year-old was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2013 and said he went “through the mill with all sorts of chemo and immunotherapy and combination therapies” until he received a “really, really successful” bone marrow transplant on New Year’s Eve in 2024.Campbell shared that his previous efforts to combat cancer didn’t stick and that it “kept coming back.”“Ten years ago, I did an oncologist stem cell transplant, which means using my own stem cells,” Campbell explained.

“That didn’t work.The cancer kept coming back.

And then a couple of years ago, it really got bad… the doctors told me my only chance for a cure was to do a donor transplant.”The Northern Ireland-born musician was initially supposed to receive a transplant after Thanksgiving.However, he lost his initial donor 10 days before the surgery, which he described as a “kick in the nuts.”Doctors found a 21-year-old donor with “10 out of 10” genetic markers to step in and save Campbell.“He put his name on the donor registry, for no reason other than he’s a good person,” Campbell said.

“There are a lot of good people out there, I’m glad to say.”The “Love Bites” guitarist claimed he won’t find out the identity of his donor for a while.“After two years, they give you the option to contact your donor,” Campbell said.“So you can reach out to them.

I would imagine [that] in this day and age it’s via e-mail.”Campbell plans to reach out to his sav...