Famous Rock Musician Wrote an Entire Album While in Cancer Treatment How Music Kept Away the ‘Darker Thoughts’

Even when "The Alarm" bandmember Mike Peters, 64, had to spend months in the hospital being treated for cancer and pneumonia, that couldn’t stop him from making music. The singer and guitarist wrote new songs and played them for his care team, relying on his passion to get him through his journey.

"Look, I'm a musician, this is my life," Peters told Cure in an interview.

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Peters' rock band "The Alarm" began in the early 1980s. The group started making an impact on the music industry by performing as an opening act for "U2" and "Bob Dylan." As they carved a niche for themselves, they produced hit songs such as "Sixty-Eight Guns," which helped them ascend up the rock music charts by the mid-1980s.

By 1990, the group's hit single "A New South Wales" earned them British Video of the Year, according to entertainment news outlet IMDb.

Despite his musical success, Peters faced health struggles in his personal life. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1995. Peters reportedly "rejected treatment" for the cancer and opted to go back on tour, Yahoo News reports.

Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system. It starts in the lymphatic system, a network of vessels, ducts, and nodes that runs throughout the body. This system drains excess fluid and waste from your tissues and drains them into your bloodstream. It also produces disease-fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes that defend your body against infections.

Lymphoma starts when lymphocytes develop a genetic mutation that makes them multiply much faster than usual.

The rockstar musician was then diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL a decade later in 2005. His CLL then relapsed in 2015.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer that starts in bone marrow, the spongy tissue in the center of your bones where new blood cells are made. CLL affects the immature blood cells that give rise to white blood cells called lymphocytes, which help your body fight infections.

Peters underwent treatment for his CLL before refocusing on his music.  Then in September 2022, Peters came down with pneumonia.

"As a leukemia survivor with a compromised immune system, my doctors have always warned me about pneumonia…So when I got pneumonia, I was quite shocked, because it was out of the blue," Peters said.

Pneumonia is an infection that affects one or both lungs, according to the National Institutes of Health. Peters' pneumonia didn't clear up quickly and tests revealed his leukemia was worsening because of the pneumonia.

"The leukemia was out of control and my blood count was going up close to 200 on the white count," Peters said.

The musician was hospitalized for two months so he could receive treatment. Doctors had to first treat his case of pneumonia and his lungs before they could treat the leukemia.

"I had to lie on my side for weeks because I had a drain coming out of my back. At times I was allowed to sit up when they took me off the IV I was allowed to sit up and I thought, 'I wish I could have my guitar," Peters explained.

His wife is also a breast cancer survivor. She stood by her husband's side supporting him while he worked to improve his health.

While in the hospital for several weeks, Peters turned to music to help him cope. He asked his wife to bring him his guitar and he began regularly playing music in his hospital room.

"I wasn't dissuaded from playing the guitar, I was encouraged," Peters said.

He would often use members of his care team as sources of inspiration for his music. "I think for a lot of them, they didn't know they were new songs, I was just strumming some chords, playing some things," he described.

Peters began curating the seeds for his next album "Forwards," which was recently released. Songs like "Next" were written while Peters had an IV in his arm.

"The lyrics of the song were conceived while I was being treated for a leukemia relapse and a lung that had filled with blood," Peters explained music magazine Goldmine.

 

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Peters says the music helped offset negative thoughts that encroached on his mind while undergoing treatment.

"You try to be positive about it all and suppress those darker thoughts. But they come out in the music, they just do. And I think your optimism comes out stronger than your pessimism, for me it does anyway," Peters said.

Today, Peters says he's feeling great as he relishes in the latest album inspired by his cancer journey. He still takes medication and undergoes immunoglobin therapy treatment which is a treatment method to manage immunodeficiency conditions.

Understanding Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is one of the most common type of leukemia, and it typically impacts adults older than 50. Other risk factors for CLL include having a family history of the disease, being caucasian, and exposure to certain chemicals like herbicides and pesticides.

Common symptoms associated with CLL may include:

• Swollen lymph nodes
• Tiredness
• Fever
• Pain in the upper left part of your belly
• Night sweats
• Weight loss
• Frequent infections

WATCH: Knowing common CLL symptoms.

If you have any of these symptoms, it doesn't always mean that you have CLL. However, it's worth talking to your doctor if they're not normal for you.

Understanding Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

"I always advise that people understand their specific type of lymphoma because there are over 40 different types," Dr. Elise Chong, medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, previously told SurvivorNet.

Lymphoma starts when lymphocytes develop a genetic mutation that makes them multiply much faster than usual. The mutation also makes older cells that would normally die stay alive. The quickly multiplying lymphocytes start to collect and build up in your lymph nodes, the small glands in your neck, armpits, and other parts of your body.

"In the beginning of a conversation with a patient, we have to talk about exactly which type of lymphoma they have," President and CEO of the Angeles Clinic and Research Institute Dr. Lawrence Piro previously told SurvivorNet.

"There are some lymphomas that are very treatable, but not curable," Dr. Piro added.

"On the contrary, there are some lymphomas that, if you don't treat them, they'll progress rapidly, and you may succumb to it, yet there are very intensive treatments that you can take that may cure you," he adds.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is an example of an aggressive but treatable cancer.

There are no screening tests for lymphomas and symptoms can be hard to identify so doctors typically perform a biopsy on a lymph node to accurately determine if non-Hodgkin lymphoma exists.

However, some common symptoms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma include:

• Swollen glands
• Fever
• Night sweats
• Weight loss
• Fatigue

How Turning to Music Can Help Cancer Patients

Creating and listening to music can be a powerful tool. Most people have felt the positive effects of a musical experience, but fewer people know there is actually science to back it up.

"Just listening to music activates more brain regions simultaneously than any other human activity," Dr. Alexander Pantelyat, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, previously told SurvivorNet.

Mike Peters' reliance on playing the guitar to help him through the ups and downs of treatment had added value more than laying the groundwork for a new album.

A study published last year in the journal Parkinson's Disease researched the effects music had on the brain. It found music can help reduce anxiety for patients. Dr. Serap Bastepe-Gray, who co-founded  the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine with Dr. Pantelyat, led the study.

"The guitar, which is portable, affordable, and one of the most popular instruments in the U.S., has potential as a motivational therapeutic tool both in the clinical and community settings," Dr. Bastepe-Gray said.

Music therapy is a resource cancer patients turn to during treatment. Music therapy includes "creating, singing, moving, listening and/or relaxing" to the sounds of your favorite songs according to the National Cancer Institute.

This form of therapy can help relieve depression, stress, anxiety, and pain.

Pancreatic cancer survivor Joel Naftelberg can also attest to the power of music, as he found the support he needed from his music family.

Cancer Survivor Joel Naftelberg Learned to Dance on His Problems

“The people that were my heroes in entertainment and rock and roll have been my friends and have been some of the most supportive people that I’ve had in my life,” he told SurvivorNet.

Naftelberg describes his cancer as a “monster.” It’s “attacked every facet of [his] life,” but that doesn’t mean he’s let it get the best of him. Music has been his saving grace.

"I have found music and rock and roll to be transformational," he said. "Doesn't necessarily solve anything, but it does let us dance on our problems for at least an hour or two.

“Nothing better on a Friday afternoon than to hang with your friends and listen to beautiful music.”

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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