TESTAMENT frontman CHUCK BILLY has opened up about his two-decade journey since beating cancer, revealing how the experience transformed his spiritual outlook — and teasing details of his forthcoming memoir, Holding My Breath: The Two Testaments Of Chuck Billy, due November 10, 2026 via Permuted Press.
Billy, 63, was diagnosed with germ cell seminoma approximately 25 years ago after a routine stair-climb left him breathless. The discovery was almost accidental: a real estate agent's unexpected offer to buy his home set off a chain of events that led him to a new doctor near Antioch — who recommended chest imaging that revealed a tumor "the size of a squash" growing off his heart, pressing on his lungs.
"Spirituality — it turned me more spiritual instead of religious," Billy said. "And I think over the years, it's been 20-something years, my house is covered with different gods from any faith, statues around my house." The singer pursued both chemotherapy and traditional Native American healing practices — a dual approach informed by his Indigenous heritage and encounters with medicine men during TESTAMENT's world tours. He was declared cancer-free in 2002.
Raised Catholic, Billy's brush with mortality deepened his connection to his Native roots. His cultural contributions have since been recognized by the California State Assembly, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and the American Indian Film Festival, which awarded TESTAMENT "Best Music Video" for "Native Blood."
The memoir's title draws on two interlocking narratives: the first chronicling TESTAMENT's rise from the Bay Area thrash metal underground, the second detailing his cancer battle and the spiritual healing that followed. The book carries a foreword by ROB HALFORD (JUDAS PRIEST) and an afterword by RANDY BLYTHE (LAMB OF GOD) — fitting tributes from two of metal's most powerful voices.
Holding My Breath arrives November 10, 2026.