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20 Famous People who have Battled with Cancer

Cancer is a broad collection of illnesses that can begin in practically any organ or tissue of the body. These illnesses are brought on when abnormal cells grow out of control, cross their normal boundaries to infect nearby body parts, and/or spread to other organs. Most people will experience cancer at some point in their lives, whether it is their own diagnosis or a loved one’s. An estimated 9.6 million deaths, or one in every six deaths, were attributed to cancer in 2018, making it the second-highest cause of death worldwide. 

Cancer doesn’t discriminate based on your status; anyone, even famous people, can get it. We frequently catch our favorite celebrities beaming on red carpets, but we rarely get a glimpse of what happens to them off-camera. But many of the celebrities we know and love have been honest about their health issues, sharing their most private moments with their fans and encouraging them to prioritize their health. Cancer survivors who have been refreshingly open about their experiences include these 20 famous people. 

Celebrity Singers who have Battled Cancer

1. Sheryl Crow

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Sheryl Suzanne Crow, an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actress, was born on February 11, 1962. The genres of rock, pop, country, folk and blues are all represented in her music. She has eleven studio albums, five compilations, and three live albums, and has made soundtrack contributions to numerous movies. Crow underwent a lumpectomy and radiation treatment for seven weeks after being diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a non-invasive form of breast cancer, on February 22, 2006, in a facility in Los Angeles. She and her physician Kristi Funk collaborated to launch the Sheryl Crow Imaging Center at Funk’s Pink Lotus Breast Center in August 2010.

See this article for more information on Crow; 100 Most Popular Karaoke Songs of All Time

2. Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Lou Etheridge, an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and musician, was born on May 29, 1961. Her 1988 self-titled debut album was a triumph among underground listeners. Etheridge received her breast cancer diagnosis in October 2004. She endured chemotherapy and surgery. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2005, she and Michaels came on Dateline NBC to talk about her battle with cancer. Her hair had grown back after being lost during chemotherapy by the time of the interview. She claimed that during her sickness, her partner had been a great help. 

3. Kylie Minogue

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Kylie Ann Minogue, an Australian singer, songwriter, and actor, was born on May 28, 1968. She has sold more than 80 million records globally, making her the best-selling female Australian artist of all time. The European press refers to her as the “Princess of Pop” and a style icon for her success in reinventing herself in music and design. Since receiving her breast cancer diagnosis in 2005, Minogue has supported and promoted the cause. She launched her first breast cancer campaign in May 2010.

4. Rod Stewart

Roderick Sir David Stewart is a British rock and pop singer and composer who was born on January 10, 1945. With more than 250 million records sold globally, Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time because of his distinctive raspy singing voice. Stewart received a thyroid cancer diagnosis in May 2000. Since then, he has been actively involved in raising money for the organization The City of Hope Foundation, which seeks to find treatments for all types of cancer, particularly those that afflict children. Stewart disclosed in September 2019 that he received the all-clear following therapy after receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2017.

5. Peter Criss

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George Peter John Criscuola, better known by his stage name Peter Criss, was born on December 20, 1945, in the United States. He is a retired musician best known for being a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. In 2008, Criss received a breast cancer diagnosis. He visited the doctor after noticing a bulge on his chest while exercising. A lumpectomy was used to treat him successfully.

6. Olivia Newton-John

Dame Olivia Newton-John was a British and Australian singer, actor, and campaigner who was born on September 26, 1948 and died on August 8, 2022. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose musical career featured 15 top-ten hits, five Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, and two Billboard 200 number-one albums. Newton-John received a breast cancer diagnosis in 1992. Newton-breast John’s cancer was revealed to have resurfaced and spread to her lower back in May 2017. Sciatica had initially been identified as the cause of her back pain. She later admitted that this was actually her third encounter with the sickness because, in addition to receiving her initial diagnosis in 1992, she also experienced a relapse of the illness in 2013.

Read more about Newton-John on; Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Olivia Newton-John

Celebrity Actors who have Battled Cancer

7. Shannen Doherty

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Shannen Doherty is an American actress who was born on April 12, 1971. She was well-known for a variety of roles in both television and film. Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015, and it had already spread to her lymph nodes. She disclosed in February 2016 that she was undergoing anti-estrogen therapy to reduce the tumor’s size and permit lumpectomy as opposed to mastectomy as the preferred mode of treatment.  Following surgery, it was discovered that some cancer cells may have moved outside of the lymph nodes. She received chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the weeks and months that followed surgery because the cancer was more advanced than initially believed. Doherty made the announcement that her cancer was in remission on April 29, 2017.

8. Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Jennifer Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress, comedian, and producer who has appeared on the comedic television programs Veep (2006–2010), The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–2008), Seinfeld (1990–1998), and Saturday Night Live (1982–1985). She was born on January 13, 1961. Following collecting a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in Veep, Louis-Dreyfus revealed on Twitter on September 28, 2017, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 18, 2018, she declared herself cancer-free.

9. Marcia Cross

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American actress Marcia Anne Cross was born on March 25, 1962. The Jane the Novela star opened up about her battle with anal cancer on Instagram in 2018. Months later, she revealed that she had made the decision to “put a dent in the stigma” after learning through web research that anal cancer sufferers felt ashamed of their diagnoses. She is an advocate for open discourse and more public education regarding HPV infection, which can result in malignancies of the throat, anus, cervix, ovary, and penis.

10. Rita Wilson

Rita Wilson, an American actress, singer, and producer, was born on October 26, 1956. In 2015, Wilson disclosed that she had invasive lobular carcinoma, the second-most typical kind of breast cancer. She and Tom Hanks have served as honorary co-chairs of the Women’s Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), which raises money specifically for women’s malignancies, for more than 20 years, alongside Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw.

11. Suzanne Somers

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Suzanne Marie Somers, an American actress, novelist, singer, businesswoman, and health advocate was born on October 16, 1946. She played Carol Foster Lambert on Step by Step and Chrissy Snow on Three’s Company, respectively, in television shows. Somers had a stage II breast cancer diagnosis in April 2000. She underwent a lumpectomy to remove the tumor and radiation therapy to treat it, but she decided against chemotherapy in favor of a fermented mistletoe extract known as Iscador.

12. Michael C. Hall

Michael Carlyle Hall, an American actor, and singer born on February 1, 1971, is best known for his appearances as David Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan in the Showtime series Dexter. Hall’s representative and a spokesman confirmed on January 13, 2010, that Hall was receiving treatment for a kind of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In an interview, Hall stated that learning of his cancer at the age of 38 was distressing because his father had passed away from the disease at the age of 39.

13. Hugh Jackman

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Australian actor Hugh Michael Jackman was born on October 12, 1968. He began his career in theater and television before landing his breakout role as Logan / Wolverine in the X-Men film series (2000–2017). One of the most typical types of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, has affected Jackman six times. He posted a picture to Twitter with the caption, “Another basal cell carcinoma,” following his most recent dermatologist visit to have some of the cancer from his face removed.

Read more on; 10 famous Australian actors

Celebrity TV Personalities who have Battled Cancer

14. Giuliana Rancic

Giuliana Rancic, an Italian-American entertainment reporter and television personality, was born on August 17, 1974. She lives in both Los Angeles and Chicago and is a co-anchor of E! News. In an interview with Today on October 17, 2011, Rancic disclosed she had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and that she will undergo a double lumpectomy and radiation therapy to treat it. Midway through October 2011, she had surgery, and a week later, she was back at E! News. She announced on December 5, 2011, that she has made the decision to have a bilateral mastectomy.

15. Larry King

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Larry King, who was born on November 19, 1933, and died on January 23, 2021, was an American television and radio host who won 10 Cable ACE Awards, 2 Peabody Awards, and an Emmy. In 2017, the host of television and radio received a diagnosis of one of the most typical forms of lung cancer. In July of that same year, he underwent surgery to have it removed.

16. Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Rachel Osbourne, a British-American television personality, music manager, and novelist, was born on October 9, 1952. She rose to fame while appearing on The Osbournes (2002-2005), an MTV reality series that chronicled her family’s daily life. Osbourne underwent surgery for cancer in July 2002. She declared that it was colon cancer, more severe than first believed, and had spread to her lymph nodes. She beat a 33% chance of surviving the illness.

17. Hoda Kotb

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Hoda Kotb, an American broadcast journalist, television host, and novelist, was born on August 9, 1964. She co-hosts the fourth hour of the entertainment-focused NBC News morning program Today as one of its main co-anchors. The co-anchor of Today received a breast cancer diagnosis in 2007. After having a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery to treat her breast cancer in March 2007, Kotb has subsequently become a vocal supporter of breast cancer education.

Celebrity Radio Personality who has Battled Cancer

18. Robin Quivers

Robin Ophelia Quivers, an American author, actress, and radio host, was born on August 8, 1952. She is best known for her many years as a co-host of The Howard Stern Show. In 2013, Quivers announced that she had been diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Following successful surgery, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy, Quivers declared on September 9, 2013, that her cancer has gone into remission completely. 

Celebrity Swimmer who has Battled Cancer

19. Eric Shanteau

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Eric Lee Shanteau, an American former competitive swimmer, was a part of two successful American relay teams that won gold medals at the World Championships. He was born on October 1, 1983. Shanteau qualified for the Beijing, China, Olympic swimming team on July 3, 2008, after finishing second in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. Despite learning he had testicular cancer the previous week, he decided to participate in the competition. He had surgery to remove the malignant testicle after arriving in the country. Shanteau is currently cancer-free and involved in cancer awareness campaigns.

Celebrity Writer who has Battled Cancer

20. Judy Blume

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Judith Blume, an American author of children’s, young adult, and adult fiction, was born on February 12, 1938. Blume started writing in 1959 and has more than 25 novels to his credit. Among her well-known works are; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (1970), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Deenie (1973), and Blubber (1974). Her books have made a considerable impact on children’s and young adult literature. Blume disclosed her breast cancer diagnosis in August 2012, following a routine scan she had before departing for a five-week trip to Italy. She underwent a mastectomy and breast reconstruction six weeks after receiving her diagnosis. After this procedure, Blume was cancer-free and able to recover.

Read more about Judy Blume on; 25 Famous Children’s Authors your Kids will Love