Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has announced that he is “completely in remission” from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, marking the first time since his diagnosis in 2013.
The 62-year-old musician, originally from Belfast, had missed Def Leppard concerts in Nashville (October 2024) and Mexico (January 2025) while recovering from a bone marrow transplant.
Vivian Campbell returned to performing with Def Leppard on Thursday, May 15, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Coliseo José Miguel Agrelot, followed by another performance two days later at the Boardwalk Rock festival in Ocean City, Maryland.
In a recent interview on Eddie Trunk’s Trunk Nation, Campbell provided an update on his health journey. He explained that doctors had advised a donor transplant as his best chance for a cure. He began preparing for the transplant with additional chemotherapy during the band’s summer tour, followed by more intensive chemotherapy after the tour concluded. Campbell revealed that his initial donor was lost in November, but another donor was identified shortly before Christmas.
“I went into hospital. I was in for about three and a half weeks, and I did what has turned out to be a really, really successful transplant,” Vivian explained. He added, “I did a PET scan in the middle of April and I’m a hundred percent clean, completely in remission for the first time in 12 or 13 years. And I am obviously overjoyed. You couldn’t ask for more than that.”
Prior to the bone marrow transplant, Vivian Campbell had undergone various treatments for his condition, including stem cell therapy in 2014, and continuous treatment with the antibody pembrolizumab alongside immunotherapy since 2015. In November 2023, he had informed the Lymphoma Voices podcast that the effectiveness of pembrolizumab was waning, leading him to receive chemotherapy in conjunction with his ongoing immunotherapy. At that time, he described his battle with lymphoma as “whac-a-mole,” noting, “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. I’ve been able to continue touring.”
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