Rock music icon now asking fans for help in cancer fight: ‘Treatment is essential’

Alabama Life & CulturePortrait of members of American Heavy Metal group WASP as they pose backstage at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, Illinois, January 19, 1986. Pictured are Tony Richards, Blackie Lawless, Randy Piper, and Chris Holmes. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)Getty ImagesBy Brian Linder | blinder@pennlive.comChris Holmes, best known for his time as the guitarist for W.A.S.P., has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. A GoFundMe campaign started by his wife, Catherine Savean Holmes, has been set up to help the 68-year-old musician as he battles the disease.“We never imagined we would have to write something like this again,” the GoFundMe reads. “In 2022, just after two years of COVID lockdown, Chris faced throat cancer. A GoFundMe carried us through an impossible moment. We were deeply grateful, and we hoped we would never have to ask again. Today life has placed us in another hard situation, and we want to speak about it honestly.“Chris has begun radiotherapy in France for prostate cancer,” the post continued. “The treatment is essential and cannot be interrupted. Because of an administrative error linked to our marriage registration, the health insurance system placed Chris under ‘emergency only’ coverage. He had to wait three months before receiving any care at all, and only the radiotherapy given during the month of July is covered. Everything else falls to us: * Hormone therapy (standard and new generation) * Scans and PET scans * Biopsy and blood tests * Daily travel to and from the hospital. This has already left us with ($23,000) in medical debt, and the treatment ahead will keep adding to it every month.”Holmes is attempting to raise around $57,000.“Chris must remain in France to receive radiotherapy,” the GoFundMe added. “Leaving the country would risk his emergency status lapsing, so he cannot travel and therefore cannot work. Chris has given everything to his music and to the people who listen to it. It is his whole life. Today we cannot carry this alone. We are grateful to France for granting the emergency coverage that allowed Chris to begin radiotherapy. Now we ask, humbly, for help covering everything else. If you are able to give, even a small amount, it goes directly to the medication, medical exams, and transport Chris needs to finish his treatment safely. And if you cannot give, your messages, your love, and your presence mean just as much.”Blabbermouth.netreported that Holmes cancelled his 2026 tour of the United Kingdom and Scandinavia earlier this year. Holmes was with W.A.S.P. from 1982 through 1990. He returned to the band in 1996 and was with it through 2001. Brian Linder is the trending editor at PennLive.com. He has more than 20 years of experience working for newspapers first in South Carolina, then Daytona Beach, Florida and now in Pennsylvania. Linder spent...