Mike Peters, frontman for the veteran Welsh new-wave band The Alarm, has received a new cancer diagnosis, forcing the group to postpone its Live Today Love Tomorrow Tour of North America.
The trek, which also was to feature support acts Jay Aston’s Gene Love Jezebel and Belouis Some, was slated to kick off Wednesday, May 1, in New Orleans.
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: Mike Peters Defies Cancer, Pushes The Alarm into Forwards]
The 65-year-old Peters has battled cancer for decades. He was first diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 1995, then with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in 2005. He suffered recurrences of CLL multiple times, most recently in 2022, but on Sunday, April 21, he discovered that he was facing a new health challenge.
That morning, Peters discovered a large swollen gland on his neck. On Monday, April 22, he was examined by his hematologist, Dr. Earnest Heartin, at a cancer treatment center in Bodelwyddan, Wales. An emergency biopsy determined that the singer’s CLL had transformed into a high-grade lymphoma that needs immediate treatment.
Peters’ Message About His Diagnosis and Potential Tour Plans
Peters has written a lengthy message about his illness and potential future touring plans that has been posted on TheAlarm.com.
“I have no doubt that the … 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 wrote of the lymphoma diagnosis.
Peters reported that he’s now waiting to have a PET scan and a heart scan, as well as “consultations with the team at the Christie Institute in Manchester [U.K.] before confirming the exact specifics of my new treatment regime.”
Peters noted that once he gets the results of the biopsy and his treatment plans are in place, he will write fans again about his “plan for recovery and how I’m going to make it through what I know will be the most challenging time of my life.”
The singer continued, “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 Reflects on His Cancer Battle
Peters then reflected on his long cancer battle, while noting how resolved he is on beating the disease.
“Cancer has been chasing me for 29 years now, and in all that time, I have managed to outrun the disease and stay alive,” he said. “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 finished his message by thanking fans for their understanding, and promising to keep them updated about his health battle.
Peters’ Cancer Charity
After Peters’ initial cancer diagnosis in 1995, he created the Love Hope Strength Foundation with his wife, Jules Peters, who is and a breast cancer survivor. The charity seeks to raise awareness of and fight against cancer via advocacy and organizing bone marrow drives.
Since its inception, Love Hope Strength has registered 250,000 people onto International Stem Cell Registries, and has identified more than 4,500 potential matches for donors. For more information, visit LoveHopeStrength.org.
More About the Postponed Tour Dates
The Live Today Love Tomorrow Tour had been scheduled through a July 6 show in Clearwater, Florida. The Alarm also has had to cancel an appearance at the star-studded Cruel World festival on May 11 in Pasadena, California.
About The Alarm
Among The Alarm’s many songs that reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart are “Sixty Eight Guns,” “Strength,” “Spirit of ’76,” “Rain in the Summertime,” “Sold Me Down the River,” and “The Road.”
Peters’ wife, Jules, plays keyboards in The Alarm’s current lineup.
The band released its latest album, Music Television, on April 19. The project is made up mostly of cover versions of songs by some of The Alarm’s contemporaries from the early MTV era. They include renditions of tunes by Dire Straits, The Buggles, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Phil Collins, Modern English, and their tour mates Gene Loves Jezebel and Belouis Some.