The Spandau Ballet star discovered a lump on the back of his head and was diagnosed with two brain tumours in 1995, causing him to fear for his life for years
Spandau Ballet star, Martin Kemp(Image: Instagran)
Martin Kemp has dealt with major health ups and downs.
The Spandau Ballet star was left fearing for his life after he discovered a lump on the back of his head.
After going to the doctors, he was diagnosed with brain tumours and still deals with the effects of it years later.
In 1995, Martin underwent an MRI after finding lumps on his head and doctors found two tumours – a larger one was just below his skull, while the other was embedded deep in his brain.
Thankfully, surgeons were able to remove the larger tumour, but because the second one was located in a difficult place, there was huge concern that he would be left with brain damage if they tried to remove it.
Martin’s wife Shirlie Holliman looked into other treatments and found a type of radiotherapy treatment being offered at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
It was a revolutionary treatment as it sent high-dose beams of radiation to brain tumours that had been deemed as inoperable.
Martin had the radiotherapy in 1997, with the treatment lasting 20 minutes. He later shared that the tumour disappeared as a result of this.
The singer opened up about the fears he dealt with over his diagnosis and how he was afraid that he was going to die.
“When I went through all of that brain tumour scare, I spent two years of my life thinking I was going to die. And I think, after that, everything else, every day, every year, every month that I’ve lived, every experience that I’ve had has been a bonus,” he said on his son Roman Kemp’s podcast, FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp.
Martin Kemp attends “The Blitz Club” Exhibition Launch celebration at Design Museum on September 17, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Jo Hale/Getty Images)
He continued: “When I went through all of that brain tumour scare, I spent two years of my life thinking I was going to die. And I think, after that, everything else, every day, every year, every month that I’ve lived, every experience that I’ve had has been a bonus.”
“It’s really strange that when I was 34 and stuff and I went though that brain tumour stuff, I was practically resigned to the fact that I was going to die, but I was quite happy with my lot, because I had lived the most incredible experiences,” Martin said.
“By the time I was 34 and I thought I was going to die, I spent two years thinking about it. I was quite happy, I thought: ‘If I go, do you know what? What a life, and that was back then’.”
After his surgery for his brain tumours, Martin developed epilepsy and has been on medication for it since.
“I live with epilepsy full time — I’ve been on medication now for around 18 years but, with the right treatment, epilepsy can be suppressed — and it is in my case,” healthawareness.co.uk reported Martin said.
He added: “The things that happened to me after my operation resulted from bruising and trauma to the brain and, thank God, most of the effects disappeared. But, obviously, for a lot of people that is not the case and they have to live with that every day.”
