“I’m sorry for having waited so long to address this issue personally. But cancer can be a very unique and private matter to deal with. So, I think it’s about time to tell you where I’m at,” Van Halen said in the statement on his band’s official Web site. “I was examined by three oncologists and three head and neck surgeons at Cedars-Sinai just before spring break and I was told that I’m healthier than ever and beating cancer.”

He did not specify what kind of cancer he has or the type of treatment he has received. He concluded the message with, “Although it’s hard to say when, there’s a good chance I will becancer-free in the near future.”

A year ago, a spokesperson for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston said the 46-year-old musician was in a cancer prevention program at the hospital but denied that Van Halen had cancer.

A hospital spokesperson told MTV News April 27 that Van Halen was in the program last year but hadn’t been at the cancer center for several months. Doctors at that hospital apparently did not diagnose his condition.