John Tesh Shares How His Wife Helped Save His Life After He Was Given 18 Months to Live Following Rare Cancer Diagnosis (Exclusive)

John Tesh Shares How His Wife Helped Save His

Life After He Was Given 18 Months to Live

Following Rare Cancer Diagnosis (Exclusive)

John Tesh is opening up about his battle with cancer — and how his wife, Connie Sellecca, played a crucial role in saving his life by pushing to get him the care he needed.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the 73-year-old recalls that during the most intense moments of his cancer journey, Connie pointed him toward two friends she believed could help.

Tesh was first diagnosed with stage III prostate cancer in 2015. His doctors feared the tumors were inoperable and warned he might have only 18 months to live.

Refusing to give up, Tesh dove into his own research and eventually found a specialist who felt confident he could perform the surgery. After a successful radical prostatectomy, the composer thought the worst was behind him.

But in 2017, an MRI revealed the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes in his pelvis.

That’s when Connie had an idea.

“She had met these two friends in New York when she was modeling more than 50 years ago, and she stayed in touch with them,” he explains. “When I was at my wits’ end and couldn’t find the right treatment for this very rare form of prostate cancer, she reached out. They told her, ‘You need to come to MD Anderson.’”

Tesh says that while other hospitals he visited had treated only 50 to 100 cases similar to his, MD Anderson had handled more than 1,000 — giving them far greater experience.

What impressed him most, he adds, is that the team there focuses on treating “the whole body,” not just the cancer itself.

Tesh continues to monitor the disease with his doctors at MD Anderson, and he recently spoke at a fundraiser for the institution, telling PEOPLE he believes he owes his life to the care he received.

For Tesh, the journey mirrors his own musical career — one now enjoying a resurgence thanks to the return of his iconic 1990 composition “Roundball Rock,” originally created for the NBA on NBC and now back in primetime.

“I wrote that song 35 years ago, and it sat on the shelf for a long time. Then they came back and said, ‘Hey John, we’re really leaning into the nostalgia factor,’” he recalls.

Tesh went on to re-record the track for the 2025 NBA season — but to his surprise, fans overwhelmingly preferred the original.

“The funny behind-the-scenes story is that when I heard the song was returning, I recorded a new version with a full orchestra and we tested it on social media,” he says. “And the fans said, ‘No, no, no — we want the OG version.’ So the version you’re hearing now is actually the demo I made in 1989.”

Tesh notes that the song’s revival mirrors his own health journey, saying that both he and his iconic composition are “rising from the ashes.”