ACCORDING to the World Health Organization, the number of cancer cases worldwide could rise from 20.6 million to 35 million by 2050. This is attributed to diet, lifestyle and genetics. In Hollywood, several well-known vegetarians and vegans who avoid animal products have also been diagnosed with the disease.
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton has been a vegetarian for more than five decades. He avoids meat, poultry and fish to preserve his voice. However, his diet changed after he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, in 2023. His tumor was successfully removed, although the disease is reportedly incurable.
Jessie J
The “Price Tag” hitmaker was previously a vegetarian and vegan, but in 2023, she returned to eating meat because it was recommended during her pregnancy. In June 2025, she was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. She is now cancer-free. She has also chosen not to return to a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney was regarded as a “historic pioneer of the vegetarian movement” and a “global icon for animal rights” for several decades until her death from breast cancer in 1998. Despite her death, the experience did not change the views of her husband and Beatles member Paul McCartney, 84, who remains a vegetarian to this day.
Robin Gibb
During the final decades of his life, Robin Gibb was known as a strict vegan who also avoided alcohol. The Bee Gees member died in 2012 from complications related to colorectal and liver cancer. His condition was described as “congenital” and was said to have no connection to his early rock-and-roll lifestyle. His twin brother, Maurice Gibb, died in 2003 from a twisted intestine.
George Harrison
The Beatles guitarist gave up eating meat in 1966 after embracing Indian culture and its connection to Hinduism. Despite his healthy vegetarian diet and spiritual lifestyle, however, he did not stop smoking. He was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997, followed by lung cancer and a brain tumor. George died in 2001 at the age of 58.
Bob Marley
The King of Reggae became a vegetarian after converting to the Rastafari movement in 1966. In 1977, Bob Marley was diagnosed with skin cancer. He refused to have the cancerous toe amputated because he believed it went against his faith. Marley died in 1981 at the age of 36 after the cancer spread throughout his body. / TRC