Poison drummer Rikki Rockett recorded messages for his kids as cancer threatened to take his tongue

Poison Drummer Rikki Rockett Declares 10‑Year Cancer Freedom

Baltimore, MD – Former Poison drummer Rikki Rockett, 65, announced that he has been cancer‑free for a decade following a harrowing battle with HPV‑related throat cancer and later chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The 2015 diagnosis began as a persistent sore throat and swollen lymph node that, after a scope examination, turned out to be malignant at the base of his tongue.

Rockett first underwent standard treatment: five days a week of radiation and weekly chemotherapy for three months. “The treatment failed,” he told a Fox News interview, noting that doctors then suggested tongue removal to stop the disease. Faced with the possibility of losing his voice, Rockett recorded messages for his children, hoping they would one day hear his voice in the absence of his tongue.

The cancer eventually entered stage IV, and the patient’s weight plummeted to 161 pounds. He later entered a clinical trial at the University of California San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center, receiving a combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and epacadostat. A PET scan revealed that 90 percent of the tumor was gone after the first scan and was completely cleared on the second. In July 2016, doctors declared Rockett free of throat cancer.

While recovering, Rockett’s body reacted with elevated white‑blood‑cell counts, leading to a diagnosis of CML, a blood cancer linked to a Philadelphia chromosome translocation. “It’s a predisposition thing,” he explained. “I was freaked out. I just went through one cancer and now I was facing another.” The hematologist who treated him reported the leukemia was treatable and sometimes curable. Rockett is now in complete remission and continues medication, which he describes as having nasty side effects but is the reason he is “still here.”

Rockett’s treatment left lasting effects. Radiation damaged his salivary glands, causing chronic dryness and a rougher voice. He admitted to losing significant weight during treatment and that the swelling of his tongue at one point made him fear choking. Despite these challenges, the rocker remains active. He continues performing with his band, Rockett Mafia, and encourages his children to attend Poison concerts so they can see him on stage.

In a memoir titled Ghost Notes: My Life in Poison, Rockett chronicles his rise to fame in the 1980s, his health battles, and his determination to survive. He writes, “A big part of it was fighting for my kids.” He emphasizes that his perseverance was driven by the desire to give his children the life he feared he might never see.

Rockett’s story underscores the importance of early detection and the advances in cancer therapy that have turned once‑fatal diagnoses into long‑term survivorship for many patients.