Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has missed the band's first show of 2025, held at the Auditorio de la Feria León Guanajuato, a 4500-capacity arena in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Joe Elliott informed the crowd that Campbell – who was replaced on the night by Phil Collen's guitar technician John Zocco – was unable to perform as he was receiving treatment for cancer.
Zocco also filled in for Campbell at the band's last show, a surprise performance at the Daimler Truck Customer Appreciation Event at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in October. The Nashville performance occurred just over a month after Campbell successfully completed 27 dates on Def Leppard's Summer Stadium Tour.
Campbell announced he was suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma in 2013, and has been battling the condition ever since.
"I'm still dealing with the lymphoma," he told the Lymphoma Voices podcast in 2023. "It's sort of like – it's an American expression – Whac-a-Mole. You beat something back and then it pops up somewhere else. But 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.
"For the bulk of those 10 years, I actually was doing immunotherapy. Starting in June of 2015, I started taking a drug called pembrolizumab. I remember at the time my doctors wanted me to do radiation and maybe a combination of radiation and chemo. And I just thought, 'Well, let's just try this immunotherapy thing. Let's see if this works.' So I managed to get on the trial. I'm happy to say that it worked well for me."
Def Leppard's next scheduled show is at the San Juan Coliseo de Puerto Rico in Puerto Rico, on May 15. Full dates below.
Dec Leppard 2025 tour dates
May 15: San Juan Coliseo de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
May 17: Ocean City Boardwalk Rock 2025, MD
Jun 19: Milwaukee Summerfest, WI
Jun 21: Thackerville Lucas Oil Live at WinStar World Casino and Resort, OK
Jun 28: Atlantic City Borgata Event Center, NJ
Jul 03: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Jul 13: Craven Country Thunder Craven, Canada
Aug 14: Des Moines Iowa State Fair, IA
Aug 16: Springfield Illinois State Fair, IL
Aug 20: Highland Yaamava’ Theater, CA
