Def Leppard News - VIVIAN CAMPBELL Says DEF LEPPARD Grateful For RRHOF Honour

Friday, 8th February 2019

VIVIAN CAMPBELL Says DEF LEPPARD Grateful For RRHOF Honour

By dltourhistory

Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell was recently interviewed by Hamilton Radio and mentioned the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Vivian spoke to Carlo Bellario of Hamilton radio in Hamilton, ON, Canada to promote the upcoming tour with Tesla.

Vivian talked about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction, selection process, how Def Leppard compare to other bands, live show/touring, playing popular songs, Last In Line's second album, songwriting, starting in music, inspiration and what he thinks of the term "Rock Is Dead".

He spoke more about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction which happens in March and what it means to the band.

Listen to the full 22 minute interview below.

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Hamilton Radio - Vivian Campbell Interview Quotes (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction

"I didn't really think about it much one way or the other to be honest you know. It's not one of those things that would keep me awake at night. You know we are of course very flattered that we've gotten in. We were even more flattered that it was on the first go and we're even more flattered that actually we had the largest popular vote. That's always where our emphasis has been on our fan base you know. Our fans of Def Leppard are very very passionate about the band and has been for many many decades and that means to us I think than any accolade in the industry."

"I always equate these sort of things. I always think back to the Grammys in the 1980s. Before I was a member of Def Leppard I was a fan from the early days of the band and had all the albums and I remember just being amazed that Hysteria, you know, such a landmark record. Coming on the back of another landmark record that was Pyromania. You know back to back landmark albums. Not only did Def Leppard never win a Grammy, Def Leppard wasn't even nominated for a Grammy."

"You know back then that sort of set my expectations about those sort of things. You know that OK well you can't really. Here's a band that creatively have just pushed the boundaries and and commercially have sold back to back multi million selling records. A world wide phenomenon and are not getting industry recognition. You know so OK well then obviously that's not what it's about. What it's about is getting fan recognition more than anything else. So we're certainly very grateful for the honour and it does bring a sort of credibility and it feels like a very grown up sort of a thing that we would be immortalised in this way I suppose you know."

RRHOF Selection Process

"Well thank you I mean I certainly don't dwell upon the selection process. It's not anything I understand how it works but you know we'll take it and we'll take it in our stride as we do everything else you know and just move on. It's a good thing."

Difference Between Def Leppard And Other Bands

"There's no other band on the planet like Def Leppard. I can honestly tell you that. Every single thing about Def Leppard is thoroughly thoroughly unique to Def Leppard. You know the creative process, the thought process, the work ethic, the attention to detail. It's a very very very unique situation. There's not another band like Def Leppard on the planet and there probably never will be. ."

Live Show/Touring

"We always wanna make the show better than it has been. You know in terms of what songs we perform yeah, we wanna make it a different show but we are in many ways beholden to the band's own success. You know in terms of the songs. There are certain songs that we feel that we always have to play at a Def Leppard show. And it's not a bad problem to have. I know that a lot of hardcore fans would love to hear some of the more obscure songs. And certainly it would be interesting for us to play those songs. You know so yeah every time we got ut we change not only the show in terms of the production aspects. We do try and change up the setlist but that said there is the larger percentage of the show like 75 or 80 percent are gonna be the same songs. You know you can present them in a different way or do medley's of them or whatever but you know we're always beholden to do PSSOM. We're always gonna have to play Photograph, Rock Of Ages, Animal, Hysteria. I mean the really big hits that people come to expect you know. And the majority of people coming to a Def Leppard show expect and want to hear those songs."

"Our audience is growing however, not only in terms of numbers but more importantly in terms of generations. We've seen this for years and 2018 more than any year I think we'd say 30 or 40 percent of the audience are young enough to be our kids. They're there because they wanna be there not because their parents forced them you know. So there's a new fresh blood coming in. Not just for our audience I think this is rock in general. And this is encouraging to see that there's a bit of a resurgence of interest in guitar rock music with this young generation. So that bodes well for the genre.But we feed off of that energy. So when you get this more youthful injection into your audience that energy. We can feel that onstage and you know Leppard, we need the energy of the audience back you know. "