Hippo Campus rocker Jake Luppen, 31, reveals he has a brain tumor requiring six-hour surgery to remove it

The frontman for the indie rock band Hippo Campus has revealed that he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and is preparing for a grueling surgery to remove it.

Jake Luppen, who sings lead and plays guitar for Hippo Campus, shared in an Instagram post on Wednesday that doctors had discovered a growth on a lesion in his brain that had previously been spotted on an MRI.

The 31-year-old singer–songwriter shared with fans that he has a six-hour surgery scheduled for later this year to remove the growth, which his doctors believe may be a 'stage two glioma.'

In his post, Luppen revealed that he will have to be awake for the hours-long surgery to help his surgeons ensure his safety. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Luppen and Hippo Campus's record label, Psychic Hotline, for comment but has not yet received a response.

According to Luppen, seven years earlier, his migraines had prompted him to get an MRI, which revealed that he had a 9mm lesion near his brain's basal ganglia.

The basal ganglia are a group of interlinked structures near the center of the brain that are responsible for managing signals the brain sends to muscles, which control the body's ability to move, according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

However, the basal ganglia also play important roles in several other processes, including learning, cognition and emotional processing.

Luppen wrote that a 'routine scan showed some possible growth in this lesion,' leading him to get an electroencephalogram (EEG).

After consulting with his neurologist and neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic, he said that they determined that he should undergo a craniotomy, 'as its critical location renders the option for a biopsy to be too dangerous.'

Luppen said the surgery would take around six hours, and he would be kept awake during the procedure so that his surgeons could 'safely access what they believe is a stage two glioma,' a 'slow-growing, low-grade brain tumor' that is considered less severe than glioblastoma, a fast-growing stage four tumor.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a glioma is a malignant tumor that can develop in the brain or spinal cord. 

The growing tumors can put pressure on the brain or spinal cord, which can negatively affect vision, balance and the ability to think and speak clearly. People suffering from glioma can also experience mood swings, headaches, nausea and bouts of depression or anxiety. 

Luppen revealed that he had been experiencing intense anxiety before his latest scan, which was likely related to the growth.

'To my surprise, the panic symptoms I had been experiencing were actually focal seizures,' he shared.

Luppen said his surgeons would try to 'remove as much of the lesion as possible and then send it off for testing,' which would give them a better idea of how to continue treating him. 

He noted that the surgery was scheduled for November 6, and he acknowledged that a 'medical procedure of this nature carries some scary risks,' but he and his family were confident in their abilities.

However, Luppen's surgery might complicate his ability to perform with Hippo Campus, so he announced a show on October 19 at the Turf Club in St Paul, Minnesota, 'to rage for one last time before I'm on my a** for a few months.' 

He added: 'Rest assured I will work as hard as I can to get back on stage asap.' 

'I’ll keep y’all updated throughout this journey,' Luppen concluded. 'Gonna be a wild ride.'

In a light-hearted comment, he added: 'no it is not in my hippocampus ❤️.'

Luppen formed Hippo Campus with lead guitarist Nathan Stocker, bassist and keyboardist Zach Sutton and drummer Whistler Isaiah Allen when they studied at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in 2013, with trumpeter DeCarlo Jackson joining in 2017. 

Hippo Campus released its first EP, Tarzan Rejects, in 2013, followed by its debut full-length album, Landmark, in 2017. The band has released three more LPs, the most recent being 2024's Flood.