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EXPLAINED: Leppard org - The Real Truth

“We were labelled ‘the new Led Zeppelin’. I mean, wow! But it was a blessing and a curse. There could never be another Led Zeppelin, just like there could never be another Beatles”: The strange tale of a great rock band that had it all – and then blew it

As one critic said, this band had “more good riffs in one song than there are in the first four Black Sabbath albums”

MusicRadar

"It's not hard to see why they got left behind by Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon": Praying Mantis fail to surf the NWOBHM wave on Time Tells No Lies

Life at the melodic end of the hard rock spectrum was not always kind

Louder

“Me and Taylor sat down, and she says, ‘I can’t sing that line’, cos it was a bit too risqué”: Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott on duetting with the teenage Taylor Swift on an 80s rock classic - and the raunchy lyric they had to change

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“We’d done 11 songs. Nobody wanted to do another except me and Mutt. But I said, ‘Sorry, boys – you can’t turn this chorus down!’”: How Def Leppard created a mega-hit song in 10 days after spending three years on an album

"It was really based on rap stuff – not your standard rock song”

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"I was only allowed to walk forwards if I had a particularly important guitar solo": Meet Star Circus, the missing link between ELO and Def Leppard

Variety is said to be the spice of life, and Star Circus throw a lot into the ring

Louder

“He said, ‘I’ve never seen so many women in my life. We just get men at our gigs”: The night Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris joined Def Leppard to cover Creedence Clearwater Revival

This one-off union of two British rock superstars actually happened

Louder

“Don’t get too precious about your songs. We’re probably going to tear them apart”: Legendary producer Mutt Lange’s first words to the young Def Leppard

How Leppard's 'sixth member' took them to a new level

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“I called out to Mutt and said, ‘How about this?’... It was a complete fluke": How Def Leppard created a rock anthem - with a little bit of divine intervention

"Thank God we let that church choir in!”

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“We had a request from the studio guys: ‘Is it okay if this local church choir comes in to record for a day?’ And thank God we let them in!”: How Def Leppard created a rock anthem - with a little bit of divine intervention

"It was a complete fluke," singer Joe Elliott said

MusicRadar

"The summer is heatin' up!" Def Leppard reveal spring / summer tour schedule

Do you wanna get rocked? Of course you do, silly question really

Louder

“In six months, we got through 300 bottles of vodka, 400 bottles of whiskey and cases of beer. It was insane”: The unbelievable story of Def Leppard’s 80s hard rock masterpiece Hysteria

Four years, one near-fatal car crash and an ocean of booze in the making, Def Leppard’s Hysteria is the 80s hard rock album against which all others should be measured

Metal Hammer

“He sings on all our stuff. You hear him on AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Shania’s stuff. He has the best voice in the room”: Phil Collen says Mutt Lange is an ace vocalist who can nail it in one take – and it’s the same with guitar

For Collen, working with Lange is like “going to school for your favourite subject” but recreating the studio magic live on Def Leppard tracks such as Live Bites can be very tricky at first

MusicRadar

“He didn't want his credibility blown by being named on a Def Leppard album!”: The rockers’ secret weapon was a synth pop boffin

“He added a new dimension to our songs,” Leppard’s singer says

MusicRadar

"Vivian is still battling cancer, we've still got a one-armed drummer. But these are obstacles that we just mock": Joe Elliott on why Def Leppard won't be retiring any time soon

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott on the US tour, not selling out, guest appearances, retirement and the next album

Louder

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"We always play UK tours even if we're operating at a loss": Joe Elliott on the importance of Britain to Def Leppard

In 2008, Joe Elliott sat down with Classic Rock to discuss the band's roots, selling Britain to America, and that iconic Union Jack shirt

Louder

"A guy's just died and here we are making this euphoric, celebratory music. It seemed a bit weird": How Def Leppard overcame tragedy and made Adrenalize

Reeling from the death of guitarist Steve Clark, Def Leppard were determined to keep the party going. The result was Adrenalize – their last great blockbuster album

Louder

“We used to cover Problem Child in the early days. We did it two or three times in front of an audience”: we got Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott to pick his ultimate AC/DC setlist

From big hitters to deep cuts, this the perfect AC/DC setlist according to Def Leppard singer and AC/DC megafan Joe Elliott

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“Ritchie Blackmore went into the pit with a box of tomatoes and started throwing them at the singer”: how Deep Purple changed Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott’s life

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott on his love of Deep Purple – and the deep cut he loves

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“We had our pockets stuffed with $16,000 in $100 bills, and there were 8,000 kids in front of us in Bangkok. We caused a riot at the airport coming home”: the rise and fall of Girl, the cult glam rock band who should have been huge

Swaggering and arrogant, NWOBHM-era glam rockers Girl were the biggest band in the world – at least in their own heads

Guitar World

“I thought I’d make the notes count, like Jeff Beck. It doesn’t sound anything like Jeff, but that was the intention going in!” Phil Collen on how – by accident and design – Def Leppard reinvented rock guitar on classic album Pyromania

Pyromania is 40 years young this year is still fresh as a daisy. Collen explains how tones, solos, Mutt Lange and the art of recording one string at a time forged a pivotal moment in rock

Louder

"Even now it still has that special quality that made it such a ground-breaking record": Def Leppard to release massively expanded 40th anniversary edition of Pyromania

The new edition of Pyromania will include a host of demos and rough mixes, as well as a "long-lost 11th song"

Louder

"It's a huge gift that I’m still here and I’m still doing what I did:" How Rick Allen fought trauma and found happiness

Def Leppard's Rick Allen on returning to Download, the enduring appeal of Mutt Lange and almost losing his life in a car accident

Louder

“David Bowie kidnapped us!”: the unlikely story of Joe Elliott, Bono, Bowie, a hijacked taxicab and the most unlikely version of Happy Birthday ever

When a starstruck Joe Elliott met David Bowie at a party at Bono’s house, he didn’t expect to be accused of kidnapping Ziggy Stardust

Louder

10 brilliant but obscure late 80s and early 90s hard rock bands that everyone should know about

Vega frontman and melodic rock connoisseur Nick Workman salutes the unsung geniuses of the late 80s and early 90s scene

Louder

Before she became one of the planet’s biggest pop stars, Taylor Swift collaborated with Def Leppard: “She heard our music in her mother’s womb”

Remembering the time a pre-megastardom Taylor Swift ended up playing a gig with Def Leppard

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