Any cancer of the mouth has a high probability of mortality.
“I used metal picks -- they’re brass and copper -- which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where
I got the tongue cancer,” he said at the time. “Plus, I basically live in a recording studio that’s filled with
electromagnetic energy. So that’s one theory. I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of
everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say
it’s possible.”
I don't know the details of his cancer, but tobacco use, both cigarettes and chewing type, is the top cause of cancers in the mouth and throat.
He didn't mention drinking, but regular heavy drinking is also linked.
Just because his "lungs are totally clear" doesn't mean smoking wasn't the cause. When it's difficult to pinpoint one cause, it's more than likely a combination of multiple causes.
I've had several family friends and relatives with similar cancers. One of them lived decades without a larynx and suffered through rounds of chemo. She was able to live past 60. She spoke using an Electrolarynx she held to her throat. Later on, she'd ask people, "Want to hear my Stephen Hawking impression?"
Her brother died of the same cancer just after she was diagnosed. I think he was in his late 20s/early 30s -- about the same age she was when first diagnosed. He didn't live more than a year after being diagnosed.
Both were heavy smokers from when they started as teens.
It's a really nasty form of cancer. Sorry to hear he was battling it. Horrible way to go.
If you believe in forever
Then life is just a one-night stand
If there's a rock n' roll heaven
Well you know they've got a hell of a band
- The Righteous Brothers