Warrant drummer Steven Sweet recently opened up about a series of ongoing health challenges, including a past cancer diagnosis, in an interview shared on The Hair Metal Guru.
Sweet addressed his cancer scare from 2018 and confirmed that the issue has since been resolved. He then went on to detail the other physical struggles he continues to face.
“The cancer issue, that’s gone. It’s gone,” Sweet said. “I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and it was deemed to be moderately progressive, which means not as bad as it could be, but worse than not. Not too bad. It was middle of the road. So, they determined that the cancer was encapsulated. It was still just in the prostate — it hadn’t spread beyond, so I opted to have it surgically removed.”
Despite the positive outcome on the cancer front, Sweet revealed that he is dealing with a number of other serious physical ailments.
“I’m pretty good, yeah. I like to put on a good façade,” he said. “I’m crumbling inside in other ways. I still have massive shoulder issues. I have massive hand, arthritis issues. I had a hip replacement two years ago. What else? It’s always ongoing. I ruptured a bicep tendon, which means my bicep is half hanging on my arm now, so it just doesn’t end.”
Sweet went into further detail about his torn bicep tendon, explaining why surgery was not an option and how the injury occurred.
“I’ll keep going as long as I can keep going,” he continued. “I mean, I can work through pain issues. It used to bother me more than they do now. But physically, my having a torn bicep — it’s torn and it’s inoperable, which is the other thing about it, is that it’s torn from the top of what’s basically up at the shoulder joint, which is why it tore, is because my shoulder is so out of whack that the bones were rubbing against the top of the tendon, the bicep tendon, and it frayed it so much that when I closed the dishwasher drawer, it just snapped and it was gone.”
Despite the severity of the injury, Sweet noted that it does not impact his ability to play drums. He drew inspiration from NFL legend John Elway.
“So that was inoperable because there was so little to work with. They can’t really pull it back into place now,” he said. “But that doesn’t affect my playing, which is an amazing thing to hear from your doctor. John Elway won two Super Bowls with a torn bicep. So if he can do it, I can do it. But to answer your question directly, I will go as long as I can, and I foresee that being till forever. I’m just gonna keep going.”
Sweet’s comments reflect his determination to continue performing with Warrant despite the mounting physical challenges he has faced in recent years.
Sweet was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2018. The band launched a GoFundMe campaign at the time to help cover his medical expenses. He opted for a radical prostatectomy — the surgical removal of the prostate — rather than pursue other treatment paths. He made that decision quickly and decisively. Follow-up blood tests since the procedure have returned clear results.
The surgery came with its own set of lasting consequences. Sweet has been candid about experiencing long-term side effects following the prostatectomy, including issues with urinary control and sexual function. These are common challenges for men who undergo the procedure. His recovery was further complicated by a spinal fusion he underwent just two weeks after the cancer surgery, compounding an already demanding physical rehabilitation.
Sweet’s history with physical wear and tear predates his cancer diagnosis by years. As far back as 2011, he publicly acknowledged dealing with bone spurs in both shoulders, a collapsed disc in his neck, and loss of some reflex in his right tricep. He attributed all of these conditions to the physical demands of decades behind the drum kit. The cumulative toll of those early injuries laid the groundwork for many of the more serious issues he faces today.
Through it all, Sweet has remained a fixture in Warrant’s lineup, a band he helped build from the ground up as one of its founding members. He is known for driving the rhythm on era-defining tracks such as “Cherry Pie,” “Heaven,” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” His commitment to continuing that role, regardless of what his body throws at him, appears equally unwavering.
