Def Leppard Rocker Viv Campbell Sits Out Band's First Concert of 2025 as He Recovers from Cancer Treatment

One of the members of Def Leppard was not present at the band’s first gig this year.

On Saturday, January 18, the rockers kicked off 2025 with a performance at the Feria Estatal De León in Leon, Mexico. However, one member of Def Leppard was noticeably missing — Viv Campbell.

Instead, John Zocco — Def Leppard’s touring guitarist and photographer — replaced the longtime guitarist, 62.

“Vivian Campbell can’t be with us tonight,” frontman Joe Elliott told the crowd, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. “He’s just recovering from cancer treatment. So, guys, please say hi to the guy who’s replacing him tonight, Mr. John Zocco on guitar.”

Vivian Campbell in June 2019.

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Representatives for Campbell have not yet responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

In 2013, Campbell was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which affects the lymphatic system.

“I feel lucky that cancer sent me a wake-up call in the form of a ‘cough that won’t stop,'” he wrote on Facebook in 2013 while in the middle of chemotherapy. “Otherwise, how would I know?”

The following November, Campbell wrote that he was “officially in remission from Hodgies”, and in 2014 he said the cancer was still in remission, although his excitement had been tempered.

“I’m trying not to get too excited about it because I heard that same phrase late last year only to be disappointed again a few months after it came back,” he wrote on Facebook. “The plan is to do a stem cell transplant as soon as the tour is over.”

But in June 2015, Campbell revealed on his Facebook page that his cancer had returned.

He opened up about his ongoing battle with the disease during one episode Voices of lymphoma podcast in 2023.

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Vivian Campbell, Phil Collen, Rick Allen, Rick Savage and Joe Elliott of Def Leppard in December 2019.

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“I’m still dealing with lymphoma,” he said. “It’s kind of like – it’s an American term – Whac-a-Mole. You win something and then it shows up somewhere else. But it’s been a pretty consistent fight, but it hasn’t been difficult for me. I’m dealing with it, I’ve been able to live my life life.”

He added: “I was actually on immunotherapy for most of those 10 years. Starting in June of 2015, I started taking a drug called pembrolizumab. I remember my doctors then wanted me to do radiation and maybe a combination of radiation and chemotherapy. And I just thought , ‘Well, let’s try this immunotherapy thing.'”

That’s how I managed to get to the trial, Campbell concluded. “I’m happy to say that I did well.”

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Source: HIS Education