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| photo: Def Leppard / Facebook |
Def Leppard were inducted into the 2019 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame during a March 29 ceremony at the Barclays Center in New York, and video from the event is streaming online.
“Everything we do, we do for our fans,” posted the band - who won the Fan Ballot last fall with more than half a million votes – before the show. “Thank you all so much for helping us get here.”
Queen guitarist and longtime friend Brian May delivered the induction speech for the lineup of singer Joe Elliott, guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen, who were recognized alongside founding member Pete Willis and late guitarist Steve Clark.
With 11 studio albums to their credit, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide since the release of their 1980 debut, “On Through The Night.”
The band also has the rare distincton of earning two diamond-selling albums (1983’s “Pyromania” and 1987’s “Hysteria”) for US sales of more than 10 million copies each.
"Those songs we've written over the years were always our main priority,” Elliott told the crowd, “and although there seemed to be a looming sense of tragedy around every corner, we just wouldn't let it in. But it's true: it did seem that every time we made some musical headway, life would knock us back down somewhat. 'Pyromania' is a raging success… then Rick has a life-changing accident. He survived it and came out the other side stronger. 'Hysteria' gave us the global success that we'd always craved… and then we lost Steve.
“But we survived and came out the other side stronger people. And that's the way it's always played out throughout our career. So let's face facts here: if alcoholism, car crashes and cancer couldn’t kill us, the nineties had no chance."
Following the acceptance speech, Def Leppard took to center stage to perform the title track to “Hysteria”, “Rock Of Ages” and “Photogragh” from “Pyromania”, and their 1987 smash “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”
On a night when Def Leppard were inducted int the Rock Hall alongside Stevie Nicks, The Cure, Janet Jackson, Radiohead, Roxy Music and The Zombies, the UK rockers closed out the evening with a performance of the Mott The Hoople classic “All The Young Dudes” – written by David Bowie – during an all-star jam that included May, Ian Hunter, the Zombies’ Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, Steven Van Zandt and The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs.
Def Leppard will begin their 2019 live schedule at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 6 as part of a summer trek across Europe.
See also:
VIDEO: Def Leppard perform on Good Morning America
VIDEO: Def Leppard perform David Bowie and classic hit on The Howard Stern Show
VIDEO: Def Leppard guitarist unplugs for Hysteria on Jonesy’s Jukebox
Queen guitarist Brian May to induct Def Leppard into Rock Hall
Search Def Leppard at hennemusic
