Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott on the US tour, not selling out, guest appearances, retirement and the next album
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On February 7, 1984, Def Leppard’s year-long Pyromania tour ended in Bangkok, Thailand. Forty years on, the British hard-rock institution had no fewer than seven songs from that record – plus brand new 2024 single Just Like ’73, featuring Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello – in the setlist for their recently completed Summer Stadium Tour, a co-headlining run across the US with Journey.
We didn’t have a ‘Def Leppard ft. Tom Morello’ single on our 2024 bingo card.
Tom was talking with one of the guys at our publishing company who played Just Like ’73 to him, and he went: “Oh my god, this is great. I’d love to play on it.” And we went: “Great!” Tom is an astonishing guitarist, and a bit of a fan, so happy days.
I read a quote from Phil Collen recently, where he said: “This is the seed for a new album.”
Absolutely. We’re actively writing and recording, under the radar.
Below, Leppard Frontman Joe Elliott gives us the lowdown on that and more.
I think it actually excites me more. We have a devil and an angel on our shoulders pinching us, going: “Can you believe you’re still doing this?” Because it’s a gift, a joy and a privilege. There’s always some trepidation – as a singer you only have to catch a cold, and then you’re all over YouTube and it’s: “He can’t do it any more.” So you’re always on edge a little bit, but that edge is actually quite cool.
We’re human beings, and things do happen; Vivian [Campbell, guitarist] is still battling cancer, we’ve still got a one-armed drummer. But these are obstacles that we just mock. Waiting to go on stage every night is like waiting to go out on to the pitch for a Cup Final. So yeah, ‘excited’ would be an understatement.
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