Def Leppard News - DEF LEPPARD 2019 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Speech (Photos/Video)

Wednesday, 1st May 2019

DEF LEPPARD 2019 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Speech (Photos/Video)

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Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2019 in Brooklyn, NY on 29th March with more video footage now available.

The show took place at the 17,000 capacity Barclays Center.

The show was broadcast by HBO and SiriusXM radio on 27th April with Joe's full speech also now added to YouTube.

Brian May's speech and the band's performance was edited down from the original length.

A number of screenshots have also been added to the site.

Read Joe's speech again below and view all of the available video from the event via the YouTube playlist link.

The band's next scheduled show will take place in June at the Sweden Rock festival.

Def Leppard @ Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2019 - Brooklyn, NY, USA Setlist

01 - Hysteria - (not broadcast)
02 - Rock Of Ages
03 - Photograph
04 - Pour Some Sugar On Me

05 - All The Young Dudes

With Brian May and Ian Hunter plus members of The Zombies and Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles.

Watch some Fan Videos from the show here.

Brooklyn, NY / Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 2019 Fan Photos

Screenshots by dltourhistory.

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Joe Elliott/Def Leppard Speech

"Thank you. Thanks for having us. Good to be here. First of all massive, massive love and gratitude to our very dear friend Brian May and congratulations on the incredible successful movie."

"Also like to congratulate our fellow inductees tonight. It's been a real honour to be able to share the stage with the likes of Roxy Music and Stevie Nicks and The Zombies. Artists that we have admired from a distance for many many years."

"Alright so down to business. We'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge a few people and some significant moments that played a very important role in getting this band to where it is today."

"Starting off with our parents. Now back then we were just a bunch if teenage wannabes. Living at home. Dreaming the dream and, you know, so without their help and encouragement it would be a lot tougher to be standing up here on this stage tonight. My Mum for example taught me my first three chords when I was eight years old. I've learnt two more since and I have come to realise you don't actually really need them at all."

"My Dad who lent us 150 pounds to make our first ever recording back in 1978. Which was absolutely the launch pad of this very wild ride that we have been on ever since."

"That's just two examples of what our folks did for us along the way. And I could stand here all night with great tales of parental support and what have you. But basically it goes without saying that their help and their financial support or otherwise things would have turned out very very differently. So thank you Mum's and Dad's. Thank you very much."

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"Another significant moment in this band's birth was the simple act of missing a bus. Which is something that I did on one August night in 1977. I decided to walk home instead of waiting for the next one. Fate would have it that I would bump into a young kid who I knew to be a pretty good guitar player. That kid was a guy called Pete Willis. Pete was the co founder of this band and one of the best right hands in the business. Now sadly Pete couldn't be with us tonight. But I want to emphasise how very important Pete's role was in this band in the early days."

"He was a terrific player. He had a very mischievous sense of humour. But he brought plenty of great musical ideas to this band. And it was Pete after a chance meeting in a college canteen. Both reaching for the same guitar magazine. Introduced us to the late great Steve Clark. Over the following ten years Steve made a massive musical contribution to this band. His incredible and unique riffs helped shape some of the most important songs that we will ever write. And it really does go without saying that we love him. And we miss him every day."

"Two gentleman who helped take us to a level that we might previously have dreamt about. Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch. They formed Q Prime Management and they looked after us for the best part of 25 years. We will always appreciate the fact that Peter bankrolled this band for years. Until things started to take off and boy did they take off."

"But not before the most significant contribution that Peter and Cliff ever made which was introducing our music to our future producer, co-writer and mentor Mr. Robert John 'Mutt' Lange. Now we first worked with Mutt on an album in 1981. An album called High 'n' Dry. A pretty good record. But it was 1983 that saw us move into a whole new orbit. The phenomenal success of the album Pyromania. Where we were introduced for the first time to our wonderfully loyal fan base."

"Without them we would not be up here tonight. And of that I have absolutely no doubt about whatsoever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"You who came on board with us for the best part of the following 36 years and supported us through some tough times along the way. But also times have helped us make this band what it is today. It's solid. We're appreciative of who we are and what we stand for."

"Those songs written over the years were always our main priority. You only just had to check out our misguided fashion sense over the years. And you'll understand where I'm coming from. And although it seemed that there was always a looming sense of tragedy around every corner, We just wouldn't let it in."

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"But it is true. It did seem that every time that we made some musical head way life would just not us back down son. Pyromania is a raging success and the Rick has a life changing accident. He survived it and came out the other side stronger. Rick Allen everybody."

"Hysteria gave us global success that we'd always dreamed. But then we lost Steve. We survived and we 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 people here. If alcoholism, car crashes and cancer couldn't kill us. The 90s had no fucking chance. ."

"So finally I'd like to just bring this into the now. And thank some people who have been helping keep this beautiful machine on the road. Hopefully for many many more years to come."

"Our manager Mike Kobayashi. He took over the reins from Howard Kaufman who looked after us from 2005 until his sad passing in 2017. Howard did an incredible job breathing new life into this band at a time when it could have gone either way. And Mike continues to do so. So thank you my brother."

"To our friends at Universal Records past and present. Especially present. And to our families. To our wives. To our children who help keep us grounded. Honey, how much did that purse cost?. They give us a good reason to keep doing what we do."

"And last but absolutely not least my own band mates here. We're not blood but we're the closest thing to brothers that this only child has ever known. And I couldn't and I wouldn't wanna do it without these guys. Thank you."

Def Leppard - Brooklyn 2019 Show Page
Def Leppard - Def Leppard Tour 2019
Related News - 24th April 2019
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