Def Leppard are about to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but longtime guitarist Vivian Campbell says that the fans support means far more to the band than industry accolades like the Grammys and the Rock Hall.
A band is eligible for induction into the Rock Hall 25 years after they release their first recording, but despite being a mega-selling multi-platinum band, Def Leppard had been overlooked by the institution until last year's ballot. Vivian was asked by the Animal House Radio Show if the band should have been inducted sooner.
He responded, "I don't really think about it much one way or the other, to be honest. 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're even more flattered that it was on the first go and we're even more flattered, especially that we got the largest popular vote and that's always been where our emphasis has been - our fanbase. [The band's] fans are very passionate about the band and have been for many, many decades. That means more to us than any accolade in the industry.
"I always equate these sorts 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. I remember just being amazed that 'Hysteria', such a landmark record, coming on the back of another landmark record 'Pyromania', so it was back-to-back landmark albums. Not only did Def Leppard never win a Grammy, Def Leppard wasn't even nominated for a Grammy.
"Back then, that sort of set my expectations about those sort of things, that, 'Okay, here's a band that creatively has just pushed the boundaries and commercially have sold back-to-back multi-million-selling records and are a worldwide phenomenon and are not getting industry recognition.'
"Okay, then obviously that's not what it's about. What it's about is getting fan recognition more than anything else. We're certainly very grateful for the honor. It does bring a certain credibility. It feels like a very grown-up sort of a thing, that we would be immortalized in this way, I suppose."
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