September 6, 2025
The singer is using his platform-turned-testimony to advocate for early screenings
Montell Jordan is best known as a 1990s chart-topping R&B artist and as the founding lead pastor of Master Peace Church near Atlanta. Now, he wants to be known as a two-time cancer survivor.
Montell shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE that cancer has returned. After an initial diagnosis in January 2024 and removal of his prostate in November of that year, Jordan says the remaining cancer has been found in his left lymph node and “potentially some undetectable things in the prostate bed and the place where the prostate was removed from.”
“I now am headed on my journey to be a two-time cancer survivor; not something that I ever thought I would even be for one time,” Jordan told Black Enterprise. “But this is the journey, and we are making sure that we do our best to inform others, document the journey, and share what this journey is like as we are right now in the midst of it.”
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As September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the award-winning singer/songwriter/producer is using his platform-turned-testimony to advocate for early screenings. Jordan is a global ambassador for ZERO Prostate Cancer, a leading prostate cancer advocacy organization. ZERO Prostate Cancer is kicking off its $20 Million Blitz the Barriers initiative in Atlanta, where ZERO reports that Black men are up to five times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
According to Zero, Black men face the highest prostate cancer death rates in the nation. They are 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and twice as likely to die from it, but there’s a 99% survivor rate when detected early.
“Our new partnership with Montell is sacred,” said Courtney Bugler, ZERO Prostate Cancer President and CEO. “His courage to share his ongoing journey and full support will help sound the alarm for men everywhere that it’s time to let go of the stigmas associated with prostate cancer. It’s time to talk, and it’s time to take action. Together, we hope to rewrite the script on what survivorship looks like: loud, proud, and without shame.”
Tough Conversations on Cancer to Preserve Family Legacy
There were no physical ailments that led Jordan to believe cancer had returned, but his due diligence in frequent testing discovered the disease.
“I had a little spike in PSA (prostate-specific antigen), which signified this is not something that is normal or healthy. And so, in that testing, and then in going in for further PET and CT scans, it showed that there was some remaining cancer,” he said.
Jordan is urging men to get screened early and encouraging women to have necessary conversations with the men in their lives as “there’s a mandate on us right now to make sure that we are doing what we need to do to preserve our family legacies.”
To women, Jordan says, “If you have a man in your life, I’m talking about your husband, your son, your brother, your uncle, your grandson, your pastor, a man in your life that you love and you care about, you need to make them go and get checked because cancer does not care. And the reality is: if you don’t catch it, it will try to catch you.”
For men, he encourages testing starting in your 40s—but to check with your healthcare provider for their best recommendation. Jordan says he began testing at age 42, with bloodwork over a decade to show his levels, and because of that, it was able to be detected.”
His mandate to men—especially Black men—is urgent.
“So to my guys out there, if you’ve ever listened to a Montell Jordan song, or you ever partied to something that I did or watched some music video or even familiar with me or with my music: I am not only asking you, I am pleading with you. I am praying for you. I am mandating you to go and get checked,” Jordan told Black Enterprise, adding he attributes his faith in God and the constant support from his wife Kristin, children, and grandchildren to aid him in this journey.”
This is How We Cure It
As a nod to his Grammy-nominated ‘90s hit, “This is how we do it,” Jordan is excited to kick of a “30 for 30 for 30 Tour” in 2026 called “This is How We Cure It.”
“So it’s kind of providential that, you know, a man who’s been married for 30 years, who’s now had a song for 30 years, is now partnering with a company (ZERO) that’s 30 years old; 30 for 30 for 30,” Jordan told Black Enterprise.
Going into 2026, Jordan will partner with ZERO to host a 30-city music tour and air screenings of his documentary Sustain, which highlights his journey with prostate cancer. Jordan is currently fundraising for production, and there will be clips on the film’s social media page. Additionally, he wants to use the tour—and his voice—as yet another way to save lives, by offering prostate cancer screenings during the film screenings.
“It is cancer, it’s just not my cancer. It’s my healing.
Lastly, Jordan encourages all to be mindful of their words, as they hold power.
“It is cancer, it’s just not my cancer. It’s my healing. And so, I have to claim stuff that belongs to me. And so for anybody out there that is navigating something, because there’s life and death in the power of the tongue, and we become what we are speaking, the reality we are creating, I already know that I am healed,” Jordan told Black Enterprise. “And so from that standpoint, I am not denying that cancer exists. I know cancer exists, it’s just not mine. And from that standpoint, if you’re watching this, it’s not yours. Even if you have it, it doesn’t have you.”
Catch the full interview with Montell Jordan on BE’s streaming platforms Friday, Sept. 12 at 10am ET.
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