Fans Praise Cancer Survivor Jeff Bridges, 75, As ‘Powerhouse Of Talents’ After Video Clip Shared Of Him Singing ‘Sleeping Soldiers Of Love’

Irion, 56, wrote alongside the behind-the-scenes video clip featuring Bridges, “These are tough times, but despair will do us no good.”

“We didn’t know what we were in store for when we recorded this track, ‘Sleeping Soldiers Of Love,’ but the message resonates now more than ever. We’ve got to fight with and for love.”

Irion continued, “Here is a little clip of Jeff Bridges @thejeffbridges singing the chorus of the tune I co-wrote with the incredible John Goodwin @goodwinartgallery, Griff from @dawestheband on drums, mixed by Pat Sansone @sansonica_music of @wilco what a dream team!

“Hope this lifts you up!”

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Some of the song’s lyrics are as follows, “And wake up the sleeping soldiers of love. And call better angels down from above. Shake off the dreams and shake off the dust.”

“Wake up the sleeping soldiers of love.”

The song is from Irion’s studio album, previously released on August 9, 2024.

Fans were quick to comment Irion and Bridges—who is known for playing Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski in the 1998 comedy thriller “The Big Lebowski”— for the folk-style music, with one writing, “Beautiful resonating words [love] you two. I’d love to hear the full song!”

Another fan commented, “Jeff, you are a beautiful soul, powerhouse of talents! God Bless you and your family.”

“I’ve heard this song before! Thanks to Remind the good vibes that we need to give and share,” another wrote. “Love all your work, Mr. J.”

A four-fan chimed in, “Well done. Jeff is such a soul brother.”

The footage comes about two months after Light in the Attic Records released Bridges’ never-before-heard music from the 1970s.

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The loving husband and dad of three, who battled a lymphoma diagnosis in 2020 and was declared in remission the following year, addressed the album’s release during a recent interview with the New Yorker.

Bridges explained, “A couple of years ago, I had cancer, and then I had COVID, and the COVID made the cancer look like nothing. Chemo had stripped me of my immune system. I was right at the door, you know? People didn’t know if I was gonna make it.”

Further offering insight into what led him to go public with his music that has been kept hidden since the 70s, he said, “I thought, Hey, look, Jeff, you’re seventy-three. Do you have the juice to go in and polish all these tunes that you have? Why not just put ’em out?”

“There’s so much content now, or whatever they call it, in one sense, it’s kind of a good thing because everything becomes less precious. So I thought, Well, this kind of bookends the whole thing.”

According to The Quietus, Bridges said in a statement as the news broke that it “pretty wild that this thing that happened around 50 years ago wants to bloom.”

“I guess weirdness is what’s happening these days. You never can tell what’s gonna happen,” Bridges said.

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Jeff Bridges’ Cancer Battle

Back in 2020 Jeff Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020 and began chemotherapy treatment immediately. Although Bridges hasn’t personally specified which type of lymphoma he was diagnosed with, AARP noted that his cancer was, in fact, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, cancer of a kind of white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system. It’s also interesting to note that there are more than 40 types of lymphoma.

While cancer treatment was going well, he was also diagnosed with COVID-19 in January 2021, and due to his cancer treatment having weakened his immune system, Bridges wound up spending months in the hospital.

According to AARP, Bridges’ cancer went into remission quickly after he was put through chemotherapy infusion, which was followed by an oral chemo protocol.

He dubbed his wife his “absolute champion” as she stayed by Bridges’ side as he recovered from covid in the hospital. “She really fought to keep me off a ventilator. I didn’t want to be on it, and the doctors didn’t necessarily want that. But Sue was adamant,” he told the news outlet.

He was ultimately treated with a blood plasma called “convalescent plasma,” which consists of viral antibodies.

Despite his struggle, like so many cancer survivors, Bridges was left with a renewed appreciation for life after the experience.

“I’ll be honest. I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he told Esquire in an earlier interview. “I was on death’s door there for a while in the hospital. When I finally went back to work after a two-year hiatus, it was the most bizarre kind of thing. It felt like a dream.”

“I came back after all that time and saw the same faces [while shooting ‘The Old Man’], the same cast and crew,” he added. “It was like we had a long weekend. I gathered everyone, and I said, ‘I had the most bizarre dream, you guys.’ I was sick and out, but all that feels like a gray mush now.”

Sneaky Lymphoma Symptoms Often Lead to a Late Diagnosis

When it comes to understanding lymphoma, Dr. Elise Chong, a medical oncologist at Penn Medicine, previously told SurvivorNet, “Lymphoma is split up into several different categories.

“The first distinguishing breakpoint, if you will, is non-Hodgkin lymphoma versus Hodgkin lymphoma … and those sound like two different categories. But non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprises the majority of lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma is a single specific type of lymphoma.”

Hodgkin lymphoma has distinctive, giant cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. These cells, which can be seen under a microscope, will help your doctor determine which of the two lymphoma types you have.

There are a few other important differences between non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma to note. For one thing, non-Hodgkin lymphoma is much more common. And you’re more likely to be diagnosed with it after age 55, like Bridges. People usually develop Hodgkin lymphoma at a younger age.

Another difference between these two types of lymphoma is that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to spread randomly and be found in different groups of lymph nodes in the body, while Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to grow uniformly from one group of lymph nodes directly to another.

These two types of lymphoma behave, spread, and respond to treatment differently.

Post Treatment, When a New Stage of Your Journey Begins

After a cancer warrior has made it through treatment and scans reveal no evidence of disease, it’s safe to say remission has been reached, as Jeff Bridges did just one year after his diagnosis.

WATCH: Understanding Maintenance Therapy

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), remission is defined as a “decrease in or disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer.” In general, patients who if patients remain in remission for at least five years are considered to have “no signs of cancer” or “no evidence of disease.”

Physicians often avoid saying someone is “cured” of cancer because some cancer cells can remain in the body and could return years down the road (also called recurrence).

While in remission, cancer survivors need to follow guidance from their care team. The types of follow-up may include undergoing regular scans every few months and taking maintenance therapy, which helps slow disease progression and extends the remission period.

Dr. Sagar Lonial, Chief Medical Officer at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University previously explained to SurvivorNet, “The premise of maintenance therapy is that we know there may be a low-level disease that’s still there, either at or below the level of detection with formal testing, and we want to use less intense therapy to try and keep it at bay or further reduce the burden even more.”

It’s not uncommon for cancer survivors to experience heightened levels of anxiety after cancer. This notably appears while receiving regular scans to ensure the cancer has not returned. This type of anxiety (also called scanxiety) is normal, and some helpful tips exist to help deal with it.

“The way that I define anxiety is that it’s an internal question that we simply can’t find the answers to,” Dr. Marianna Strongin, a clinical psychologist and founder of Strong In Therapy, previously told SurvivorNet.

Living in the Moment: What Survivor Lauren Chiarello Learned During Her Cancer Journey

Survivors are encouraged to be open with their feelings, not just to themselves but to people they trust. They are also advised to find an activity they love and can become so immersed in that they forget about anxieties associated with cancer.

Psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman suggests that survivors draw four columns on a sheet of paper. Then, they are asked to write down what they know, what they don’t know, and what they can and cannot control.

“It’s a helpful way to dial down their anxiety. It involves trying to move as many items as possible into what they do know and what they can control,” Dr. Boardman said.

Advice For Starting Over After Cancer

Starting over after a life-changing event, like battling a disease such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, can undoubtedly be a difficult task. But it is possible.

Here are simple tips for how to do it:

• Examine your thoughts. Take time to reflect on the tragedy or difficulty you are facing. Dr. Scott Irwin tells SurvivorNet that, often, people with cancer and chronic disease are “grieving the change in their life; the future they had imagined is now different.”
• Seek help. Irwin, who directs Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, adds that talk therapy can help people significantly:  “It’s about meeting the individual patient where they are and their feelings, how they’ve always dealt with their body image, what the body image changes mean now in their lives and their relationships, and how they can move forward given the new reality.
• Realize that you are not the first. Study the lives of other people who have faced similar difficulties. Psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman previously told SurvivorNet, “Having support, we know, is really critical in the healing process.” There is benefit in “talking to those who’ve, you know, been through this process, who are maybe a couple of steps ahead of you, who can tell you what it’s like to walk in their shoes and the unbelievable wisdom that one can gain from speaking to them,” she said.
• Visualize the future. Imagine what it will look like for you to start over.  Many people find it very helpful to create a vision board. Cut out pictures or quotes or mementos that give you a concrete picture of your future. Look at it when you feel down or need a lift.

How Music Can Make a Difference

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

In an earlier interview, Dr. Alexander Pantelyat, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, told SurvivorNet, “Just listening to music activates more brain regions simultaneously than any other human activity.”

A study published last year in Parkinson’s Disease journal researched music’s effects on the brain. It found that music can help reduce anxiety in 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. According to the National Cancer Institute, music therapy includes “creating, singing, moving, listening and/or relaxing” to the sounds of your favorite songs.

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

Psychologist Dr. Samantha Boardman previously told SurvivorNet that focusing on something you love is an important way to build resilience when coping with cancer and chronic disease. She explained what she calls the “three wellsprings of vitality,” which are connecting with others, contributing to the lives of others, and challenging yourself to continue growing.

“Those are the cores of vitality and the core pathways to enhance your everyday resilience,” Dr. Boardman said.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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