Def Leppard Follow Up

On April 25, 2008, Def Leppard released their first album of new studio material in six years, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in the US. The first single was entitled "Nine Lives" and featured country singer Tim McGraw, who co-wrote the song with Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, and Rick Savage.

A tour in support of the album began on March 27, 2008 in Greensboro, North Carolina, with Styx and REO Speedwagon. They also played several European rock festivals. An arena tour of the UK took place in June in which the band co-headlined with Whitesnake and were supported by Black Stone Cherry. The band then returned to Europe before coming back for a second leg of the UK tour in June. The first of these dates was at the Glasgow SECC on June 17. Again they were joined by Whitesnake; however, hard rock band Thunder supported at some of these shows. Black Stone Cherry continued to support most of the dates, including some of the Thunder ones. Six shows which were cancelled during the USA/Canada leg of their world tour due to illnesses affecting Joe Elliott and Phil Collen were rescheduled and played in August of that year. On June 11, Def Leppard announced further dates for their 2008 World Tour. The extension saw them visit Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Whitesnake continued to support Def Leppard for their Indian and Japanese dates. Def Leppard toured 41 US cities plus Toronto during mid-2009 with Poison and Cheap Trick and also headlined the Download Festival at Donington Park, England to a sell-out crowd of 83,000 with Whitesnake and ZZ Top.

In October 2008, Def Leppard played with country star Taylor Swift in a taped show in Nashville, Tennessee, in a show called CMT Crossroads: Taylor Swift and Def Leppard. This was released as a DVD on June 16, 2009 exclusively at Walmart. The release was the best-selling DVD of the week, and the 10th best-selling Walmart music release. In October 2009, the band announced that they would be cancelling the last leg of the 2009 North American tour, a total of 23 shows. The band cited, "unforeseen personal matters", as the reason for the cancellations. At the time, the band denied rumours about a break-up, saying, "We're not splitting. Not at all. We often joke, what else would we do? You just can't imagine doing anything else."

After taking a year off from touring in 2010, the band announced on February 22, 2011 that they would be releasing their first live album in the summer. Mirror Ball – Live & More, a two-disc live album, with three new studio tracks. It was released in parts of Europe on June 3, the rest of Europe on June 6, and on June 7, in the US; it was announced at the same time that Def Leppard would perform at the Download Festival on June 10, 2011. Of the three new studio tracks, two were released as singles, the first single being "Undefeated" released in April 2011.

Def Leppard embarked on a two-month US tour in the summer of 2011 with Heart, as well as another seven shows in Australia in October with The Choirboys and Heart, two shows in Japan in November, and six shows in the United Kingdom in December with Steel Panther and Mötley Crüe. The next year, they toured with Poison and Lita Ford from June 20, through September 15, dubbed the "Rock Of Ages 2012 Tour".

The year after, Def Leppard played an 11-show residency at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 22, through to April 13, 2013. The residency, referred to as Viva! Hysteria, featured a two-part show, with the first half featuring Def Leppard opening for themselves, under the alias "Ded Flatbird", (jokingly called the best Def Leppard cover band in the world), when they played songs they very rarely play live, going back to "Good Morning Freedom", a B-side from the single "Hello America" released in February 1980, an era usually left untouched by the band.

The opening set varied each night, from playing the best hits from albums like On Through the Night, Slang, and Euphoria, to being the entire first half of High 'n' Dry. The second half, and "main event" was Def Leppard, as themselves playing their best-selling album, Hysteria, from start to finish. A live album, also titled Viva! Hysteria was released on October 22, 2013. This was the first time the band had played an album live from start to finish.

The band has re-recorded several hits and even the entire album Hysteria in an effort to circumvent their record label from future royalties, though of these re-recordings, only "Rock of Ages", "Pour Some Sugar on Me", and "Hysteria" have been released.

On February 11, 2014, the band released a remastered deluxe edition of their 1996 album Slang after much delay. The album, still coveted by many loyal fans of the band, now features 30 tracks including demos, B-sides, and unreleased material. From June 23, 2014 to August 31, 2014, Def Leppard and Kiss toured 42 cities, with one dollar per ticket donated to such military charities as Wounded Warrior Project. Def Leppard contributed one song, "Helen Wheels", to the Paul McCartney tribute album The Art of McCartney released on November 18, 2014. Joe Elliott also contributed another track, "Hi, Hi, Hi". At certain recent points in time the band had projects, such as a cartoon and a documentary, in development. However, these projects seem to have been shelved indefinitely. The band had originally planned to do another residency in Las Vegas, this time in honour of Pyromania (called Viva! Pyromania), but due to the "Heroes 2014" tour with Kiss, and the recording of their new studio album, the project had been pushed back indefinitely. The new album was originally planned to be an EP, but the set-list increased to 15 songs by June 2014. The album was released on October 30, 2015 with a tour following.

In December 2014, the band announced a 13-date Canadian tour in April and May 2015. This was followed in February 2015 with the announcement of a 2015 US summer tour with Styx and Tesla from June to October 2015. The tour was then extended to include dates in Japan and Australia throughout November, and a tour of the UK and Ireland with Whitesnake in December. Def Leppard then returned to North America with REO Speedwagon and Tesla in early-2016.

The eleventh studio album, titled Def Leppard, was recorded in 2014 and 2015, and released on October 30, 2015. The band released the lead single from their self-titled album on September 15, 2015, titled "Let's Go", with a music video for the song being released on October 30. The 14-track album debuted at number 10 in the US and number 11 in the UK.

During the break following their 2015 tour, Def Leppard led the Hysteria on the High Seas concert cruise aboard the MSC Divina in January 2016. Joe Elliott became ill with laryngitis on the night of their cruise performance.

This led to the band performing without Elliott for the first time in their history. Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen sang lead vocals on two songs of the shortened seven song set in addition to two songs with vocals by Andrew Freeman (Last in Line) and two more with Eric Martin and Kip Winger. in addition to this, Campbell and Freeman's Last in Line bandmate Jimmy Bain, former bassist of Dio died of lung cancer aboard the ship the same night, causing Last in Line to cancel their show the following day.

Back on land, Joe Elliott struggled through the first concert of the 2016 tour, resulting in Tesla's Jeff Keith joining Elliott on lead vocals. The following day's concert was also postponed "due to illness", with Rick Allen stating on Twitter "The Doctor basically said that if Joe continues to sing without resting his throat for a month he might do permanent damage." By July 2016, the band were performing regularly again and intended to complete 48 dates. When the tour stopped at DTE Energy Music Theatre in  Clarkston, Michigan, on July 15,, the show was recorded for future release.

On February 10, 2017, the band released And There Will be a Next Time ... Live from Detroit, a double live album and concert video.  In August 2017, the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of Hysteria by releasing a collector's edition box. The singles were also re-released on vinyl.

In January 2018, Def Leppard announced they would embark on a 58-date North American tour with  Journey. The tour included ten dates in baseball stadiums, a first for the band, with special guests Cheap Trick. The tour was highly successful, as the bands played in front of more than a million fans in North America in just three months, marking the tour out as one of the most successful in 2018. In addition, the group's discography was made available for streaming and digital download after a deal was reached between the band and Universal Music Group.

On November 30, 2018, the band released a new two-disc best of compilation, The Story So Far – The Best Of. In addition to 34 of Def Leppard's greatest hits, the collection featured the band's new cover of the Depeche Mode hit "Personal Jesus" (which was originally released in July 2018 for Spotify Singles), the new Christmas track "We All Need Christmas", and the new remix of "Rock On".

On the same day, a new limited edition, 10-disc vinyl box set featuring all of the 7" singles from the Hysteria album was released.  The band finished the year off with a sell-out tour of the UK and Ireland titled Hysteria & More Tour. They embarked on a world tour in 2019 beginning with the Sweden Rock Festival on June 6. In March 2019, it was announced that the band would undertake a second Las Vegas residency titled Def Leppard Hits Vegas—

The Sin City Residency. The box set The Early Years 79-81 was released in March 2020, featuring remastered versions of the band's first two albums plus a variety of live recordings, B-sides, and studio outtakes from the 1979 to 1981 period.

On December 4, 2019, the band announced they would be touring with Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Joan Jett on The Stadium Tour in summer 2020, which was later rescheduled to 2021, and then to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 15, 2022, Def Leppard announced their twelfth studio album, Diamond Star Halos. The album is named after a lyric in the Marc Bolan-penned T. Rex song "Get It On". On March 17, the band released the lead single, "Kick". The album released on May 27, receiving moderate to positive reviews, reaching Number 10 on the US Billboard 200. Diamond Star Halos is the band's highest-charting album since 1992's Adrenalize.

In January 2023, Joe Elliot was featured on a new version of Ghost's single Spillways released as Ghost and Def Leppard.

On March 16, 2023, a teaser video was uploaded to the official Def Leppard YouTube channel, announcing an album titled Drastic Symphonies. The album was released on May 19, and featured 16 tracks from previous albums reworked, stripped, or re-recorded. All tracks feature newly composed orchestra combined with most of the original vocals, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  The album reached number 4 on the UK album chart, making this their highest chart position for many years.

On June 13, 2024, Def Leppard released its first song in two years, "Just Like 73", featuring a guest guitar solo by Tom Morello. (Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave) When asked that same month on Sirius XM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk if it is a one-off single or the seed of the band's next album, guitarist Phil Collen said,

"Oh, it's absolutely the seed of another Def Leppard record. I mean, it was a leftover from the album before, but it was also the start of a new album. So, without a doubt. Joe and I write all the time. We send each other things. Sav gets in on there. Just between the three of us, there's just a lot of stuff floating around already. So we've, yeah, got a bunch of stuff. It's really exciting. And it's a great place to be. It's never that thing where, 'Well, we've got to sit down and write an album.' It's, like, 'Wow, I can't wait to play this to the guys and see what the reaction is.' And we keep pushing the boat out even further."

He also mentioned a possible 2025 or 2026 release date for the new album, "You know how these things go. We have these tours and everything, but we've got a new song. So that's really exciting. So that'll be on the go pretty soon."

Def Leppard has a "catchy" and "guitar-driven" musical style, described as Hard rock, Glam metal, Pop metal, Arena rock and Power pop, while their early work has been characterized as Heavy metal. The band's music combines Hard rock, Arena rock, Pop and Heavy metal elements, with its multi-layered, harmonic vocals and its melodic guitar riffs. In addition, making a concession to popular tastes of its time, Slang featured a sparser sound and Alternative rock feel. Though they were often considered one of the top bands of the New wave of British heavy metal movement of the late 1970s, the band disliked the branding, stating: "We didn't agree that our music was anything like Iron Maiden's."

In the mid-1980s, the band were associated with the growing Glam metal scene, mainly due to their mainstream success and glossy production. Pyromania has been cited as the catalyst for the 1980s pop-metal movement. Def Leppard, however, expressed their dislike of the "glam metal" label as well, as they thought it did not accurately describe their look or musical style. By the release of the Hysteria album, the band had developed a distinctive sound featuring electronic drums and effects-laden guitar sounds overlaid with a multi-layered wall of husky, harmonised vocals. According to Joe Elliott, the band is influenced by "everything from pure Pop to downright hardcore rock". He has cited Ian Hunter and Mott The Hoople among the band's early influences. Def Leppard themselves have been cited as an influence by a wide range of musical artists, including Matt Nathanson and Taylor Swift.

With Pyromania and Hysteria both certified Diamond by the RIAA, Def Leppard are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies each in the US, alongside The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Van Halen. Both Pyromania and Hysteria feature in Rolling Stone's  list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Def Leppard were among the most successful of the New wave of British heavy metal bands in the early 1980s. They combined the raw power of metal with a pop emphasis on melody, catchy hooks and vocal harmonies that, particularly later on, contrasted sharply with harsher contemporary metal and punk bands. Their early album On Through the Night (1980) appealed to metal fans like of Dimebag Darrell of  Pantera and Jeff Hanneman of Slayer. Their hugely popular later albums, such as Hysteria (1987), were different due to their perfectionism in the studio, but appealed to a broad range of music fans.

In 2006, the band received a Sheffield Legends plaque in their hometown of Sheffield. Despite their huge commercial success, Joe Elliott has said in an interview that he feels the band does not receive its fair share of respect from the British music press and he said the band had been barred from the BBC's Later with Jools Holland series because they were "not cool enough".

The band made a cameo appearance in the partly fictional film Bank of Dave, released in January 2023. They simulated giving a fund-raising concert at Turf Moor, Burnley.

On October 9, 2018, Def Leppard received an induction nomination from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to the 1,000 members of the Hall of Fame voting committee, the general public also had an opportunity to participate in the "Fan Vote". On December 13, 2018, Def Leppard were named in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2019. The band won the Klipsch Audio Fan Vote, beating 14 other nominees with 547,647 general public votes (119,803 and 28% more than second vote receiver Stevie Nicks). (Fleetwood Mac)

The current line-up of the band, along with past members Pete Willis and Steve Clark, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 29, 2019 at a ceremony at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Def Leppard were inducted by Queen guitarist Brian May, who said they were "a magnificent rock group, in the classic tradition of what a rock group really is" and "a bunch of magnificent human beings".

Phil Collen played guitar, uncredited, on Sam Kinison's "Wild Thing" in 1988. The video featured members of bands such as Poison, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, Ratt, and Aerosmith. Phil Collen also produced and played on the 1991 album "On the Edge" by Australian band BB Steal.

Joe Elliott sang lead vocals on two tracks on Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood's 1992 solo album, Slide on This. His then-wife Karla appeared in the videos for "Always Wanted More" and "Somebody Else Might". Various members of Def Leppard have played on tribute records for Jeff Beck, AC/DC, and Alice Cooper.

A fan of his local football club Sheffield United F.C., Joe Elliott performed on two tracks to the soundtrack of the 1996 Sheffield-set motion picture, When Saturday Comes (featuring fellow Sheffield native Sean Bean as a star football player), the title track and an instrumental, "Jimmy's Theme".

Elliott sang and co-wrote the opening track, "Don't Look Down" on Mick Ronson's farewell album Heaven and Hull. A promotional video was issued for the song as well.

Cybernauts was a side project consisting of Joe Elliott and Phil Collen teamed with members of The Spiders From Mars (David Bowie's former band), minus the late Mick Ronson. The group played several shows, covering Bowie's Ziggy Stardust-era songs and released one internet-only album (since deleted).

Vivian Campbell has played with two side bands in recent years, Clock and the Riverdogs, and recorded a solo album, Two Sides of If, released in 2005. Campbell toured with Thin Lizzy in early 2011 before joining Def Leppard on their Mirrorball tour.

Phil Collen sings lead vocals and plays guitar in a side band called Man Raze with Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and former Girl bandmate Simon Laffy. They released their debut album Surreal in 2008 and a second album, PunkFunkRootsRock, in 2011.

Joe Elliott founded and fronts the band Down 'n' Outz with members of The Quireboys. The band plays covers of Mott the Hoople and related artists such as British Lions and Ian Hunter. They have released two studio albums of covers, one of original material and one live album since their incarnation in 2009.

Following the death of Ronnie James Dio, Vivian Campbell reunited with the rest of the original Dio line-up with vocalist Andrew Freeman to form Last in Line.

The band pays tribute to Dio by playing songs from their original tenure in the band and released three albums, Heavy Crown (2016), II (2019), and "Jericho" in 2023, plus the ep "A Day in the Life" from 2022.

Joe Elliott, along with various other musicians including Glenn Hughes, Duff McKagan, Sebastian Bach, Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke and Steve Stevens formed a supergroup called Kings of Chaos, whose catalogue consists of songs by Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses and others. In 2012, Kings of Chaos recorded their version of Deep Purple's classic, "Never Before" featuring Elliott singing lead vocals. Kings of Chaos played Stonefest in Australia along with a few dates in South America in 2013.

Phil Collen formed a blues project by the name of Delta Deep with vocalist Debbi Blackwell Cook which released an eponymous debut in 2015.

In October 2020, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen played on The Struts song, "I Hate How Much I Want You", part of their "Strange Days" album.

Def Leppard won two awards at the 1989 American Music Awards for favourite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist and album for Hysteria.

List of awards and nominations received by Def Leppard

The Def Leppard E.P. (1979)

On Through the Night (1980)

High 'n' Dry (1981)

Pyromania (1983)

Hysteria (1987)

Adrenalize (1992)

Slang (1996)

Euphoria (1999)

X (2002)

Yeah! (2006)

Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)

Mirror Ball – Live & More (2011)

Viva! Hysteria (2013) live

Def Leppard (2015)

And There Will Be a Next Time... Live from Detroit (2017)

The Lost Session (2018) ep

Live at Abbey Road Studios (2018) ep

London to Vegas (2020) live

Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 29March2019 (2020) ep

Diamond Star Halos (2022)

One Night Only: Live at the Leadmill (2024)

Frank Noon drums (October31, 1978)

Chris Hughes synthesizers (December 1979)

Robert John "Mutt" Lange backing vocals guitar (1981–1987 1998–1999)

John Kongos keyboards (1982)

Thomas Dolby, credited as Booker T. Boffin keyboards (1982)

Melvin Mortimer, credited as Stumps Maximus lead vocals (1987)

Pete Woodroffe programming piano keyboard strings (1991–1996)

John Sykes backing vocals (1991 † 2024)

Phil "Crash" Nicholas keyboards (1991)

P.J. Smith backing vocals (April 1992)

Michael Kamen string arrangement (April 1993 † 2003)

Ian Hunter keyboards backing vocals (1993)

Fiachna Ó Braonáin tin whistle (March 1992)

Liam Ó Maonlaí grand piano (March 1992)

Peter O'Toole mandolin (March 1992)

Stevie Vann vocals backing vocals (1995 2003–2005)

Craig Pruess string and percussion arrangement (1996)

Gavyn Wright string leader (1996)

Av Singh dohl (1996)

Ram Naravan Sarangi (1996)

Shyam Vatish Sarangi (1996)

Damon "Demon" Hill guitar (1998–1999)

Stan Schiller guitar 2002

Eric Carter keyboards drum loops (2002)

John "Bro" Campbell saxophone (2003–2005)

Justin Hawkins backing vocals (2003–2005)

Anita Thomas-Collen backing vocals (2003–2005)

Kristine Elliott backing vocals (2003–2005)

Ronan McHugh mellotron (2003–2005)

Emm Gryner piano backing vocals (2003–2005)

Marc Danzeisen drums backing vocals (2003–2005)

Tim McGraw lead vocals (2008)

Dick Decent piano backing vocals (2011)

Ronan McHugh keyboards bouzouki Mellotron drum programming production (2014–2015 2022)

Debbi Blackwell-Cook backing vocals (2014–2015 2022)

Dave Bassett backing vocals (2022)

Alison Krauss lead vocals (2022)

Mike Garson piano (2022)

Eric Gorfain string arrangements (2022)