Rock Animals - Def Leppard

With more than forty gigs lined up between now and September throughout the UK, Ireland, the US and Canada, Def Leppard are a band that certainly aren’t showing any signs of slowing down with age. As frontman Joe Elliot sits at the airport anxiously awaiting the arrival of his fellow band-mates, he discusses the busy schedule that the veteran rockers have planned: “The tour will promote last year’s Sparkle Lounge album, and we aim to start rehearsing tomorrow. We kick off in Dublin at the O2 Arena on the 12th of June before headlining the Download festival on the 14th, and then we’re off to the States. The bulk of our dates are in America, partly to make up for the shows that were cancelled last year after I fell ill.”

Joe seems relatively unfazed by this seemingly daunting agenda – but with good reason, for Def Leppard have always enjoyed massive success on their US tours, regularly selling out arenas. With more than half of their 65 million album sales being attributed solely to their American fan-base, there are even some who argue that the band have achieved more success across the pond than here in the UK.

Joe shares his beliefs on why this might be the case: “If we are more popular in the States, then it is mostly by virtue of radio air-time. Each town in America has ten radio stations, at least three of which are dedicated to rock. You have stations that play active rock, like My Chemical Romance, Greenday or the Foo Fighters, and those that play classic rock such as ourselves, AC/DC and Queen. Here in the UK they just don’t want to play that kind of music, and hearing us on the radio is something of a rarity. And then of course there are the live shows – in the UK, tours can’t realistically stretch for more than 12 dates whereas in America you can do dozens. It’s just a completely different animal over there.”

With so many gigs performed throughout their illustrious career, you might think it hard for Joe to isolate one in particular that stands out for the Sheffield-based band. He is quick to quash such notions however, and singles out the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donnington in 1986 as his most memorable. This gig marked the return of drummer Rick Allen, whose involvement in a near-fatal car crash two years earlier resulted in the amputation of his left arm. Joe describes the moment of the drummer’s momentous return: “The general public hadn’t even known he was back till the doors opened and word got out, so they’d only had about an hour to soak it up. When I finally walked onto the stage and announced to the crowd: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Rick Allen on the drums,’ the fans went absolutely ballistic. It was the true confirmation of his big comeback.”

Whilst most expected the accident to signal the end of the drummer’s musical career, Joe recalls how there was never any doubt in the band’s eyes that Rick would continue to perform with them: “When he was absolutely convinced he could do this, and when we were absolutely convinced it wasn’t the morphine talking, we said okay, let’s do it. At the very least, we owed him the opportunity to try, and it would have been pure cowardice to sack him. I remember when it happened we had people calling us up and asking to audition as Rick’s replacement, and we told them to **** off. You don’t kick people out of your family for being in an accident, and that’s what we are – a family.”

It is largely through holding such strong relationships with one another that Def Leppard have managed to stay together for over thirty years, a time in which they have secured countless honours. However, Joe shares a view common with many in the rock industry, in that there is a lot more to it than the awards: “Sure, they make a nice paperweight, but generally speaking it’s about the opportunity to perform a massive show, to take part in an interesting interview, to do a great video or write a great song – that means a lot more to me than simply winning an award for that great song.” In fact, when Def Leppard won the title of favourite heavy metal artist and album at the American Music Awards in 1989, they weren’t even present to receive it. “We weren’t invited, and someone had to take it on our behalf. I don’t think anyone expected us to win it, least of all ourselves. It really didn’t mean anything to us,” he explains.

Despite his down-to-earth nature, it's still impossible for Joe to play down the astronomical success that Def Leppard have achieved in their time together; something he attributes largely to their ambitious nature, both as a band and as individuals. “I can remember working at a factory in Sheffield in my late teens, and deciding then that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to be that guy, and I knew I was better than that - I would have been a real lame excuse for a person had I continued down that path. We all shared this kind of determination, and we always wanted to be the biggest band in the world – and, over a period of time, at various stages of our career, I think we have been.”