Vivian Campbell’s Cancer Returns After Failed Donor Transplant

The Def Leppard guitarist says his January 2025 transplant did not take, and he is continuing treatment while remaining active with the band.

Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has told El Salvador’s YSKL that his cancer has returned. Campbell first disclosed a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis in 2013, and the disease came back in 2015. In the winter of 2023, he said, the pace of the illness frightened him enough to pursue a donor transplant, which he underwent in January 2025.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t stick,” Campbell said. “So the cancer has returned, and I’m continuing treatments to manage it.” He added that he will likely need another transplant with a different donor within a few years and, in the meantime, is “certainly not slowing down.”

Campbell joined Def Leppard in 1992, replacing Steve Clark. Before that he played in Sweet Savage, Dio’s first lineup, and Whitesnake, and later formed Last in Line. Def Leppard’s most recent single, “Rejoice,” was released in January.