Def Leppard played their first show of 2025 on Saturday night in León, Mexico, but guitarist Vivian Campbell was absent.
“Vivian Campbell cannot be with us tonight,” frontman Joe Elliott told the audience. “He’s just recovering from some treatment for his cancer. So, manfully, please say hello to the guy that’s standing in for him tonight, Mr. John Zocco on guitar.”
Zocco, the guitar technician for Def Leppard’s Phil Collen, is also a photographer for the band and a seasoned touring guitarist who has worked with various rock and country artists.
Campbell, who joined Def Leppard in 1992 after stints with Whitesnake and Dio, revealed his Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis in 2013 and has been battling the disease since. He underwent stem-cell therapy in 2014 and participated in a clinical trial for the anti-cancer medication pembrolizumab in 2015. Campbell continued with immunotherapy treatments through 2022, later transitioning to a combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
Throughout his battle, Campbell has remained open about his experiences.
“There’s no shame in having cancer. There’s no shame in going through treatment and wearing the effects of your treatment physically,” Campbell said during a 2023 interview on the Lymphoma Voices podcast, referencing the hair loss he experienced from chemotherapy. “For me as a musician, there was something that just allowed me to go on stage and focus on the essence of who I am as a musician and as a person and to just put it all out there.”
