Def Leppard Frontman Joe Elliott Explains Influence On Pop Stars ::Def Leppard News ::antiMusic.com

Def Leppard Frontman Joe Elliott Explains Influence On Pop Stars

11/30/2015
. (Classic Rock) Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott says the group have influenced pop music due to their focus on infectious melodies. They've enjoyed global success on the back of a string of hit albums since the 80s. And Elliott says he realized Def Leppard had crossover appeal when pop artists started name-checking the group on a regular basis.

Elliott tells Spin: "I started becoming aware of our influence in pop music about 15 years ago when Pink did a radio show with us, and she was standing on the side of the stage singing every word. I was like, 'Well okay, she's a fan.' We have people like Jewel or John Mayer or the guys in Maroon 5, all of whom are huge fans.

"It wasn't just Ratt and Poison we were a part of - all of a sudden you've got Lady Gaga coming out and saying, 'I f***ing love Def Leppard,' and we had Taylor Swift wanting to work with us six or seven years ago when she was first kicking off."

Appealing to rock, pop and metal fans all at once can be tricky, but Elliott knows where Def Leppard's sonic home base is. He says: "We were never Dio or Anthrax or Judas Priest. We've always been about blending that kind of quirkiness that Queen had with the power of AC/DC. It's something we've always felt was our blueprint. So I absolutely hear it in pop because that's essentially who we were." Read more here.

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Copyright Classic Rock Magazine- Excerpted here with permission.

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