Rolling Stones Guitarist Ronnie Wood Reveals Second Cancer Battle

Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood announced early this week that he had recently been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive small-cell cancer but has been given the “all-clear” from his doctors.

Wood revealed the diagnosis — which marks his second bout with cancer — in an interview with The Sun. A representative for Wood confirmed the diagnosis to Rolling Stone. “I’ve had cancer two different ways now,” Wood said in the interview. “I had lung cancer in 2017 and I had small-cell more recently that I fought in the last lockdown.”

Small-cell cancer can grow quickly and is typically found in the lungs, although it can also appear in the prostate, pancreas, bladder, or lymph nodes. Wood did not offer any more specifics about the diagnosis, but despite the potential danger he said he “came through with the all-clear.”

Wood credited his preferred hobby of painting with helping him through the second diagnosis, while he also spoke about how lessons he learned in addiction recovery played a part. “I’m going through a lot of problems now, but throughout my recovery, you have to let it go,” he said. “And when you hand the outcome over to your higher power, that is a magic thing. That brings you back to the Serenity Prayer: ‘Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change’. That’s incredible. What will be will be, it’s nothing to do with me.”

Wood’s first cancer diagnosis in 2017 reportedly required an operation to remove part of his lung. By 2018, Wood said he was cancer-free, adding at the time, “If your body is riddled with cancer, it’s a losing cause. Luckily, all mine was contained within the left lung and I was fortunate enough to get shot of it, bang. There was none in the rest of my body so I didn’t require chemo.”