Mike Peters, frontman of The Alarm, revealed on Monday (April 29) that he's once again battling cancer.
As a result, the band's planned Live Today, Love Tomorrow U.S. tour, which was set to start on May 1 and run through July 7, has been postponed. The Alarm will also have to pull out of its scheduled performance at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, Calif. on May 11.
Peters shared a letter addressing the situation. "I have no doubt that the following news will come as a complete shock to you in the same way that it has also come as a bolt out of the blue to me and my family," he writes.
Peters first successfully battled lymph cancer in 1996, but in 2005 he was diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukemia. His battle with cancer was featured in the 2006 documentary Mike Peters on the Road to Recovery. In 2022, he faced a relapse of chronic lymphocytic leukemia that was successfully treated with chemotherapy.
This time around, Peter says that he "awoke with a large swollen gland on the left side of my neck" on April 21. The next day he saw his doctor for an emergency biopsy and CT scan.
"The early results have determined that my Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) has undergone a transformation into a High Grade Lymphoma," Peters reveals.
"I am awaiting to have both a PET and Heart Scan and also consultations with the team at the Christie Institute in Manchester before confirming the exact specifics of my new treatment regime with the amazing Dr. Heartin and the brilliant team at The North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre," he adds.
"Once the exact specifics of the biopsy and the treatment plans have been determined, I will write again with a plan for recovery and how I'm going to make it through what I know will be the most challenging time of my life," he says.
"I am still reeling from the consequences of this new and completely unforeseen diagnosis and doing my best to process what is happening. I'm grateful for the love and understanding of everyone affected by the tour postponement and hoping and praying with all that I have, that this is just a pause in the story of my life, and that normal service will be able to resume soon," Peters continues.
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"Cancer has been chasing me for 29 years now, and in all that time, I have managed to outrun the disease and stay alive. My focus and resolve remain the same, and I'm determined to keep running even harder to stay one step ahead and resume my life as a husband, father, and musician as soon as possible," he adds.
"Thanks for all your understanding, and I will endeavor to keep you updated as soon as I know what the doctors have in store for me and the life steps I will have to take to get back on the front foot," his message concludes.
Peters and his wife, breast cancer survivor Jules Peters, launched the Love Hope Strength Foundation in 2007 to help build awareness and fight cancer through advocacy and bone marrow drives.
