Linda Perry reveals that she secretly battled breast cancer in 2021.
Singer-songwriter Linda Perry just revealed her secret battle with breast cancer.
Perry, 59, was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2021, she shared in a new interview with People.
"I feel so lucky because there’s so many women that don’t get that opportunity," the former 4 Non Blondes singer tells the outlet.
Perry realized she had cancer while preparing for an elective breast reduction surgery, she explains in her new documentary, Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on June 6. Perry attended the premiere with her 9-year-old, Rhodes, whom she shares with her ex-wife, Sara Gilbert.
After surgery, the doctors discovered she had triple negative cancer in her breast, which "tends to grow and spread faster," than other types of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Perry said had the cancer not been caught when it was, she would have attributed her symptoms to stress because she was caring for her ill mother at the time.
"My doctor basically said the cancer that I had was the kind that she finds in people where they have six months to maybe two years to live,” she says. “And I would’ve never found it, and I would’ve never done anything about it when I started feeling off, because I would've thought it was because of my mom and the stressful situation I was under."
With few treatment options, a double mastectomy was a "no-brainer" for Perry.
Despite her diagnosis, Perry decided to keep the cameras rolling.
"The hammer was on me, and this happened in real time. I remember calling Don [Hardy] and going, 'You're not going to believe this,'" she says of her conversation with the Linda Perry: Let It Die Here director. "And he's like, 'Well, do you want to talk about it?' And I'm like, 'Well, we're in it. Let's just do it.'"
Now, Perry has a brighter outlook on her future. She's looking forward to the release of her new documentary and an untitled new album.
"I am really finally enjoying this person I'm becoming,” she tells People. "I've always had this thing where I just want to be the best. So much f---ing pressure to be the best. But now I’m like, I just want to be the best at who I am. And that takes a lot of pressure off. I don't want to be f---ing Superman. I don’t want to save the world. I just want to save the people I can, and I want to be the best person that I am."
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