IN MY HOUR OF NEED: Help Ryan Hamilton Fight Like Hell

The Comeback King

The North Of Here article

I wrote about Ryan Hamilton for North Of Here back in May this year (“The Second Act of Ryan Hamilton”). The Texan singer had returned from a musical hiatus, and with the encouragement of top rock royalty such as Stevie Van Zandt, recorded a comeback album, Haunted By American Dreams.

Widely regarded as perhaps containing the best music of his career, it also met with significant public acclaim, establishing commercial traction with a Top 20 placing in the UK’s Independent Album Breakers charts. Notably the cover of the LP featured daughter Della; her birth in 2023 had rightly turned his life upside down in a good way, and he was now finding a way to craft a music career whilst simultaneously performing those important Dad duties.

Riding the wave the album had created, Ryan was busy making plans for a UK tour next year, canvassing fans’ opinion for suggestions on how to make this work practically and financially.

Additionally, Ryan hit Substack, his Sunday missives providing a highly entertaining read—he used the format to update on his new album and plans but also set the record straight on some of the fall-out from his earlier exit from the musical business and complex personal history with Jaret Reddick from Bowling For Soup.

Just like in his music, he tackled this in true character: head-on, honestly, and candidly. It made for a refreshing tale of redemption; the slate was wiped clean, and Ryan was in a good place, set to move things forward.

The Wrecking Ball

But life has a habit of throwing curveballs and unfortunately for Ryan this one had the ferocity of a wrecking ball.

Suffering from severe abdominal pains, Ryan put daughter Della into the back seat of the car and drove to the emergency room in nearby Granbury.

He wasn’t prepared for what was to come next.

As Ryan recounts:

“At the emergency room, they discovered that my spleen was enormous. Not a little enlarged. Not something they’d keep an eye on. ENORMOUS. The doctors told me they had rarely, if ever, seen a spleen that size. They don’t understand how it didn’t rupture. Had it ruptured, I probably wouldn’t be telling you this”

Blood tests showed he had a white blood cell count of 300,000 when it was supposed to be around 5,000.

After countless tests the singer was eventually diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in leukemic form.

With his candid openness Ryan shared much of this, including photos from his hospital bed, on social media—his pain, his shock and how scared he was hitting home massively. The reaction from the community he has built up responded with love, prayers and good wishes—which played a small but important part in helping Ryan, in some way, come to terms with the cards he had been dealt.

Ryan Hamilton, 2026

Fighting Like Hell

It must be incredibly difficult and I can’t begin to imagine how Ryan is coping with his reality but he has mustered up a fierce resolve to beat the cancer attacking his body. Knowing Della’s future depends on him is keeping him as focused and strong as possible.

However, iron resolve and mental strength aren’t all that’s needed; there is no escaping the daunting financial burden of funding Ryan’s fight.

As Ryan notes:

“Even with health insurance and financial assistance, the cost of fighting this rare cancer is staggering. Just ONE of the medications I now have to take costs approximately $300 per pill. One pill. Every day. For at least two years. That's roughly $219,000 for one medication. I'm currently taking eight different prescriptions.

Then there are treatments, oncology appointments, testing, scans, hospital bills and everything else that comes along with trying to stay alive.

So... yeah.

This is the uncomfortable part where I swallow my pride and ask my weird, wonderful little corner of the world to rally around me. If you're able to donate, even a little, I would be incredibly grateful. And if donating isn't possible, sharing this helps more than you might realize.

We've already made it more than 20% of the way there. Maybe, together, we can get the rest of the way.

I'm home. I'm getting stronger. And I am going to fight like hell.

Thank you for helping me afford the fight.”

HELP: The GoFundMe Page

Ryan Hamilton hospital bed, 2026

Appreciating the various demands on everyone’s finances, all Ryan is asking for is some consideration and help towards his plight.

Whether it is the cost of a T-shirt from the merchandise stall, a CD, a vinyl record, or a direct contribution, any funds added to the GoFundMe pot will help Ryan in his ongoing fight, as he comes to terms with his situation.

The GoFundMe page can be found here.

And don’t forget to check out his wonderful music too.