DEF LEPPARD’S PHIL COLLEN REVEALS THE SECRET TO STAYING YOUNG AT 61

via Metalhead Zone

Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen had a recent interview with 93.1 WMPA, and discussed how can he be in great shape at 61, him not using any drugs and how did they earn millions of dollars in their early days.

Here is the interview (Transcribed by Ultimate-Guitar):

93.1 WMPA:

“When ‘Women’ premiered on MTV [as the second single off 1987’s ‘Hysteria’], I later read that it was not as big as you thought it was gonna be. Was Hysteria a slow burner when it first started?”

Phil Collen:

“We were in really serious debt, like, $5 million in three years. Studios and everything – shipping, cargo, hotels, and god knows what.

So we were really in debt, and the first three singles didn’t have absolutely any traction at all. I mean, they were out there… But now you look back and you see ‘Hysteria,’ or ‘Women’ – I think ‘Animal’ was the third one – you look at them now, ‘Animal’ is a Top 10 single in England. They caught fire later on, but we were still $3 million dollars in debt when that happened.”

93.1 WMPA:

“Your health regiment has become something of a legend. I mean, a lot of you guys look exactly the same as you did 30 years ago. What is your key to success – because I believe you’re in your early 60s, are you not?”

Phil Collen:

“Yeah, 61. The really easy one is just consistently working out. You don’t have to kill yourself, but just keep the blood flowing in the joints. If I stop doing that – even just kicking the bag or something like that – within a week or so, I start aching, I start feeling like the rest of the population of my age.

“So last night, just kicking the bag, all of a sudden the pain’s gone. You got to be consistent with it, and diet. I don’t drink, I don’t take drugs, I don’t smoke, none of that stuff, that really helps.

“I’m a vegan – I know some unhealthy vegans, but again, you just apply and when you’re traveling, you just feel better. It helps, it’s amazing, and that doesn’t cost anything.”

Click here to read the whole interview.

Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott: “We’re The Closest Thing To Brothers”

via Magic 98.3

Def Leppard was the final band to be presented at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony tonight (March 29) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Brian May of Queen did the honors of presenting the Sheffield, England band and appropriately asked, “I would guess from tonight, 65 years after Bill Haley and the Comets’ ‘Rock Around The Clock,’ rock and roll is alive and well, am I right?”

In May’s speech, he explained how Def Leppard came into his life. In 1981, Queen was in the studio, and he went to see Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Def Leppard opened, but he missed them. However, he visited their dressing room, thus, beginning their friendship.

May described hearing “Photograph” for the first time and being blown away by it. He said that when he finally saw Def Leppard live that he, “…never seen anything like it, I have never seen an audience like that. Def Leppard killed that night.” He then recalled joining them on stage and how it almost ended his life.

“The album was Pyromania, and there was pyro everywhere!” said May. He would then describe how he almost got hit by the band’s on-stage pyro, but singer Joe Elliott ended up saving him.

May made a point to recognize Def Leppard’s lengthy career saying, “They endured being very fashionable and very unfashionable. They got attacked for making hit records!”  But those hits, May pointed out are why they will be remembered for a long time: “After all of us are gone.”

“These guys are a magnificent rock group,” May simply stated.

When it was time for the band to speak, Elliott spoke movingly about the band’s original guitarist Pete Willis and emphasized his importance to the band in the early days. (Willis was not present at the event).  He also remembered the band’s other original guitarist, the late Steve Clark.

“We love him and we miss him every day,” said Elliott. “We’re solid, we’re appreciative of who we are and what we stand for.”

Elliott added, laughing, “If alcoholism, car crashes and cancer couldn’t kill us, the ’90s had no f—ing chance!” He also thanked drummer Rick Allen, who got a standing ovation and visibly teared up. He thanked the rest of the band and said, “We’re not brothers, but we’re the closest thing to blood that this only child has ever known.”

No one else from the band spoke; instead, they grabbed their instruments to perform a mini-set of “Hysteria,” “Rock Of Ages,” “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me.” After that, they were joined by May, Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The ZombiesSusanna HoffsSteven Van Zandt and Ian Hunter for “All The Young Dudes.”

An edited version of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will air on HBO on Saturday, April 27 at 8 PM ET.

DEF LEPPARD’S ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION SPEECH POSTED ONLINE

via Eddie Trunk

Def Leppard were officially inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame on March 29th.

Def Leppard frontman, Joe Elliott, delivered an acceptance speech on the band’s behalf (which included: guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen — along with founding guitarist Pete Willis and their late guitarist Steve Clark). Read Elliott’s speech below (via Rolling Stone)

“First of all, massive love and gratitude to our very dear friend Brian May for such a flattering introduction. We love you, mate, and congratulations on the incredible success of the movie. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer chap..

I’d also like to congratulate all our fellow inductees tonight, it’s a real honor to be able to share this stage with the likes of Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks and the Zombies, artists that we’ve 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 have played a very important role in getting this band to where it is today, starting off with our parents. Back then, we were just a bunch of teenage wannabes living at home, dreaming the dream, 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 learned two more since, but I’ve come to realize you don’t actually really need them at all. My dad who lent us £150 to make our first very recording back in 1978 which was absolutely the launch pad for this very wild ride that we’ve been on ever since.

Now 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’s of major significance, and it goes without saying that without their support, financial and otherwise, things may have turned out very differently.

Another significant moment in this band’s birth was the simple act of missing a bus, which is something that I did one August night in 1977. By deciding 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 a co-founder of the band and one of the best right hands in the business. Now sadly Pete couldn’t be with us tonight, but I want to emphasize how very important Pete’s role in this band was in the early days. He was a terrific player, had a very mischievous sense of humor, but he brought plenty of great musical ideas to the band.

And it was Pete, after a chance meeting in a college canteen, both reaching for the same guitar magazine, who introduced us to the late, great Steve Clark. Over the following 10 years, Steve made a massive musical contribution to this band, his incredible and unique riffs helped shape some of the most important songs we will ever write and it really does go without saying that we love him and we miss him every day.

Two gentlemen who helped take us to a level that we could only previously have dreamt about were 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. We first worked with Mutt in 1981 on an album called High & Dry, but it was 1983 that saw us move into a whole new orbit with the phenomenal success of the album Pryomania, where we were properly introduced to our new boss for the first time — our wonderfully loyal fanbase, without whom we wouldn’t be up here tonight, of that, I have no doubt. You’ve stayed on board for the best part of the following 36 years and supported us through some tough times along the way, but those tough times have helped us make this band what it is today — it’s solid, appreciative of who we are and what we stand for.

Those songs we’ve written over the years were always our main priority, you just have to check out our misguided fashion sense over the years and you’ll understand where I’m coming from here. And although there seemed to be a looming sense of tragedy around every corner, we just wouldn’t let it in. But it’s true, it did seem that every time we made some musical headway, life would knock us back down somewhat. Pyromania is a raging success… then Rick has a life changing accident. He survived it and came out the other side stronger. Hysteria gave us the global success that we’d always craved… and then we lost Steve. But we survived and 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 here, if alcoholism, car crashes and cancer couldn’t kill us, the Nineties had no f–king chance.

So finally I’d like to bring this into the now and thank the people who are helping to keep this beautiful machine on the road, hopefully for many, many more years to come. Our manager Mike Kobayashi who took over the reigns from Howard Kaufman who looked after us from 2005 until his 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, Mike.

To our friends at Universal Records, past and present, especially present. And to our families, to our wives, to our children, who help to keep us grounded and also give us a good reason to keep doing what we do. And last but absolutely not least, my fellow bandmates here. We’re not blood, but we’re the closest thing to brothers this only child has ever known. I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to do it without you guys.”

Def Leppard Leads All-Star Jam to Close Out Rock Hall Induction Ceremony: Watch

via Billboard

Fresh off their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Def Leppard led and all-star jam to close out the 2019 induction ceremony Friday (March 29) at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

“There’s usually an all-star jam but we’re gonna try something different,” Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott told the audience. “More sedate, less messy, more classic.”

The all-star jam of Mott the Hoople’s 1972 David Bowie-penned song “All the Young Dudes” included Queen’s Brian May; the Zombies’ Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent; the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs; “Little” Steven Van Zandt; and Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter.

Earlier in the evening, May gave the induction speech for Def Leppard, calling the pop-metal band a “magnificent rock group, in the classic tradition of what a rock group really is.”

This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony also included performances by Roxy Music, the Cure, the Zombies, and Stevie Nicks with Don Henley and Harry Styles.

Watch Def Leppard, Brian May + More Play ‘All the Young Dudes’ at Rock Hall Ceremony

via Ultimate Classic Rock

Def Leppard closed out their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last night (March 29) with a cover of Mott the Hoople‘s “All the Young Dudes.” For good measure, they not only brought out Queen guitarist Brian May, who gave the speech inducting them, but also special guest Mott the Hoople leader Ian Hunter and several of the evening’s other participants.

Joining them on stage for the David Bowie-penned song were Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of the ZombiesPhil Manzanera of Roxy Music, Susannah Hoffs of the Bangles, and Steven Van Zandt. “There’s normally an all-star jam,” frontman Joe Elliott told the audience, “but this is a little different; more up-to-date, less messy, more classic.” He then welcomed the others onto the stage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., saving Hunter for last and pointing out that it was also the 45th anniversary of Mott the Hoople’s last album, The Hoople. You can watch it all below.

Elliott has regularly cited Mott the Hoople as a major influence on him and formed a side project, Down ‘n’ Outz, to pay tribute to a band he feels has been overlooked. “I think they’re criminally ignored for God knows how many decades when people just go on and on about [Led] Zeppelin and the [Rolling] Stones and the Beatles and rightfully so,” he told us in 2014. “But it comes a point when it’s like: “Well, sometimes the underdog needs reexamining,” whether it be Humble Pie, Spooky Tooth or Mott the Hoople, which just happened to be my favorite band.”

He’s even revealed that he’s written into his will that “All the Young Dudes” and another Mott the Hoople song, “Rest in Peace,” be played at his funeral. “An obvious choice,” he said of the latter, “but it’s just a great song.”

The 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will air April 27 on HBO.

Watch Def Leppard’s Hall of Fame Induction Speech

via Loudwire

Last night (March 29), Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after first being eligible 14 years ago. Queen‘s Brian May was the one chosen to induct the group and you can watch their speech in the video above.

In the opening moments, singer Joe Elliott thanked his parents and recalled living at home while dreaming of being in a band. “My mom, for example, taught me my first three chords when I was eight years old. I’ve learned two more since and I’ve come to realize you don’t really need them at all,” he quipped.

The singer also thanked his dad for providing the finances for Def Leppard to make their first-ever recording in 1978 “which was absolutely the launchpad for this very wild ride we’ve been on ever since.”

The event was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn where Stevie Nicks, The Zombies, The Cure, Janet Jackson, Radiohead and Roxy Music were also inducted as part of the 2019 class.

Review: Def Leppard fantastic at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony

via Digital Journal

The award ceremony was presented by Klipsch Audio, and Dr. Brian May of Queen presented them with their trophies and made the opening remarks in his thankful speech. They were the seventh and final act that was inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame class. They joined Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, The Cure, The Zombies, Roxy Music, and Radiohead

Def Leppard kicked off their live performance with “Hysteria,” which is this music critic’s personal favorite tune in their catalog, as well as “Rock of Ages,” and the fan-favorite tunes “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” They were able to put a high-energy, fun and rocking show.

They were also joined on stage with several gifted musicians (Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, Steven Van Zandt, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, The Zombies’ Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone, Ian Hunter, and May himself) for an impressive cover of “All the Young Dudes” by David Bowie.

Prior to the award ceremony, Def Leppard participated in the backstage interviews. This journalist was privileged to ask them the following question: “How did it feel to earn the largest number in the fan vote in this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?”

Speaking on behalf of Def Leppard, Phil Collen responded, “That was phenomenal. Our fans absolutely insisted for years that we be here. It is totally for them. That was amazing. We love our fans. They are the best. Thank you.”

 Dr. Brian May of Queen also partook in a backstage press conference interview in the press room, where he opened up about how it felt to be inducting Def Leppard into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “They are like family to me. I am hugely honored and I am a little nervous, but I am very excited.”
 The Queen guitarist added, “I get to play with them.” Joe Elliott and May embraced and he shared that they have known each other for 35 years, and he subsequently joked that they still get into arguments.

To learn more about Def Leppard and their music, check out their official homepage.

Read Brian May’s Effusive Def Leppard Rock Hall Induction Speech

via Rolling Stone

Queen’s Brian May praised pop-metal heroes Def Leppard, and recalled the time frontman Joe Elliott literally saved his life, during a gushing speech inducting the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

May has been a longtime friend and fan of the band, joining Def Leppard onstage numerous times. They famously collaborated on a performance of “Now I’m Here” at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness in 1992. In 2006, May and Def Leppard covered T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” at Vh1’s Rock Honors and way back in 1983, May hopped on stage with the band to perform a clever mashup of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Travelin’ Band” and Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” (the performance was included on the deluxe edition of Pyromania and it nearly ended with May being engulfed in flames). This isn’t even the first time May has delivered an induction speech on Def Leppard’s behalf, previously doing so when the band landed a spot on the Hollywood RockWalk in 2000.

Read May’s entire speech below.

Sixty-five years after Bill Haley sang “Rock Around the Clock,” rock & roll is alive and well, am I right? I have the greatest job in the world. I am so honored and privileged to be importing Def Leppard into the Hall of Fame.

I’m going to quote first from the Joe Elliott book of philosophy, which says that you get one chance to do the good shit, don’t fuck it up. So this is my guide tonight, I want to do it justice — I really want to do these boys justice and I’m not going to tell you a history, I’m just going to tell you my personal view. I want to tell you how these guys came into my life and how important they are.

In 1981, Queen were in the studio in Munich recording our album, Hot Space, and I nipped out to see some friends of mine, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, and who should be supporting but a young precocious bunch of boys called Def Leppard. I got there late and I missed them. And I felt so bad about it, I sought out the dressing room and went in to see them. I poked my head through the door and said, “Hi guys, I just wanted to say hello because I missed you and I’m really sorry. I’m Brian May from Queen.” And they said, “No shit,” which was kind of nice, so I think we got on from that point. They told me that Queen had been a great influence on them, which is always a great thing for me to think about.

Cut to 1983, you know what you do when you’re on tour? We’re out on tour and when you’re in the cars and the planes, you hit the button to see if anybody’s playing your record. So this is what I’m doing, every time I hit the button I’m hearing this amazing kind of clang, sort of an arpeggiated guitar, and I’m hearing amazing harmonies and these big, juicy bass lines, these huge fat drums. And it’s not Queen, it’s these young, precocious boys called Def Leppard and the song is “Photograph”! This amazing song, which catapulted them to fame. It was never off the radio at that time, and before the album was finished that it came from, Hysteria … They sold 10 million copies of that album.

OK, cut to September ’83, I’m in Los Angeles, again we’re recording an album, which, this time, is The Works, I think, and I go out. This time, Def Leppard are playing the local arena, which is the legendary L.A. Forum. I go down there, very inconspicuous, I sit in the back, and when these boys hit the stage, I have to tell you — I have never seen anything like it. I’ve seen some great shows in the Forum, but I’ve never seen an audience react like that. They got to their feet, they never sat down and they screamed and shouted the whole way through the performance. Def Leppard killed that night. I went backstage to see them afterwards, they invited me, and just like when we first played in the States, all their moms and dads are there — very proud moms and dads, and I get introduced to them. And the boys say, “Will you come out and play with us tomorrow night?” So I said yes, and the rest is history. We played “Travelin’ Band.” It’s history because I nearly lost my career and my life because this is Pyromania and the production has all kinds of fire. Joe warned me, he said, “Watch out for the fireworks at the end, just be careful.” But I’m at the end, we finish “Travelin’ Band,” we’re up behind the drums and there’s a kind of chasm in front of us where the fire’s about to come out — I have no idea. I’m gone, I’m like giving it all this, and Joe’s going, “Brian, Brian!” And I’m thinking he’s just kind of appreciating me, you know? He’s going, “Brian, Brian, the fire!” Anyway this huge sheath of flame comes up in front of me, and just in time, Joe’s dragged me out of it — otherwise I wouldn’t be here tonight. So early on in their career, Joe Elliott saved my life!

“Not everybody realizes that these guys are not just crowd pleasers. They also embody such an amazing technical excellence. They have it all.”

You know the history of Def Leppard is incredibly colorful and filled with all kinds of stuff that I can’t even go into because I don’t have the time. But they started August 1977 in Sheffield, England, which is not a very glamorous place and there’s a lot of people who say there’s a great urge to get out. They recorded 11 incredible albums and they played their asses off around the world many, many times. They did it the old-fashioned way. They played and played and played, and they made great music in the studio. They sold, eventually, more than 100 million albums. And they endured being very fashionable and being very unfashionable as well, as sometimes happens, particularly in England where the press wasn’t very kind. I don’t know why this happens. But they kind of got attacked among other things for making hit records. Now, can I just remind you what some of those hits were? We’ve got “Bringin’ on a Heartbreak,” “Photograph,” “Foolin’,” “Pour Some Sugar,” “Armageddon It,” “Hysteria,” “Let’s Get Rocked,” “When Worlds Collide,” “Animal,” “Love Bites,” “Rock of Ages,” “Rocket” — that isn’t even the full list. They released 50 singles, most of which were hits and many were Number Ones. There was this kind of feeling abroad in the press, particularly in the U.K., that maybe that made them uncool. But let me tell you, those songs, the fact that they wrote real songs that people can sing and carry in their heads is the reason that Def Leppard will be remembered in hearts and minds long after all of us have left this Earth.

I got to say something about their endurance. You know the Def Leppard band is a family, an evolving family. I would say the amazing bass man, Rick Savage, he’s the only guy who was there at the beginning and he’s here at the end — it’s not the end, it’s the continuing story. But very soon Joe Elliott joined them and Joe brought the name with him, which apparently refers to some aurally challenged cat of some kind. So these stalwarts are the very birth of the band, but the family grew and evolved and faced all kinds of adversity. The loss of drummer Rick Allen’s arm in 1984 was a massive shock and setback, which would’ve ended the career of a lesser band. But thanks to the incredible fortitude of Rick himself and bringing himself back, and also thanks to the incredible loyalty and cohesiveness of that family, which is Def Leppard, in supporting him when he came back, they actually grew in stature and in every way — not only Rick but the whole band benefitted in a sense. I was there at Donington when he first came back for that triumphant return. Similarly the loss of the fantastic riff-meister, Steve Clark, in 1991 — what a great player, what a wonderful player. I think many people thought that could be a mortal blow to the band, and it could have been for lesser human beings, but the current guitar duo of Phil Collen and Viv Campbell is awesome. In fact, I would say Collen and Campbell are truly frightening as a guitar duo and it’s amazing.

Not everybody realizes that these guys are not just crowd pleasers. They also embody such an amazing technical excellence. They have it all. I regard all these guys as great friends and kind of part of my family, that’s why it’s so important for me to be here. I wouldn’t have let anybody else do this. They also came for our Freddie Mercury tribute, which was 1992, and we’ve played together a bunch of times. Joe and I in particular have shared many precious and fun moments, snatched among the madness of touring life. We have a strong bond and he’s one of my dearest pals. When Steve died, Joe says that the first phone call he got was from me, and when the news got out of Freddie’s passing, the first phone call I got was from Joe Elliott.

These guys are a magnificent rock group, in the classic tradition of what a rock group really is. I’m just going to quote a couple more things. Early on, Joe said, “What’s the story, the secret of a successful rock group?” I said, “Don’t split up.” A few years later, he came back and he said to me, “I have a couple of other secrets to being a successful rock group. You have to not get fat and you have to keep your hair.” I have to say, these guys did not get fat, they did not lose their hair, they did not split up, and they’re here tonight, ladies and gentlemen. They’re also as honest and decent a bunch of magnificent human beings as ever came out of Yorkshire, or Britain, or the world. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my privilege to welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Def Leppard!

 

Read Def Leppard’s Celebratory Rock Hall Induction Speech

via Rolling Stone

Since forming more than four decades ago, Def Leppard became one of the best-selling bands in the world on the strength of mega-platinum albums like Pyromania and Hysteria and hard-rocking anthems like “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” Tonight, they were finally recognized for their contributions to rock & roll.

The band has been eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 14 years now but they’ve been up for nomination only once. It turns out, that’s all they needed. The group garnered more votes than any other act in the Rock Hall’s fan vote and, with support from the institution’s voting committee, became a no-brainer for the ceremony.

After a speech by Queen guitarist Brian May, an artist whom they’ve shared a stage with on multiple occasions, frontman Joe Elliott delivered an acceptance speech on the band’s behalf. The group members entering the Rock Hall tonight include Def Leppard’s current lineup — frontman Joe Elliott, guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell, bassist Rick Savage and drummer Rick Allen — along with founding guitarist Pete Willis and their late guitarist Steve Clark. Here’s what Elliott had to say.

First of all, massive love and gratitude to our very dear friend Brian May for such a flattering introduction. We love you, mate, and congratulations on the incredible success of the movie. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer chap..

I’d also like to congratulate all our fellow inductees tonight, it’s a real honor to be able to share this stage with the likes of Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks and the Zombies, artists that we’ve 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 have played a very important role in getting this band to where it is today, starting off with our parents. Back then, we were just a bunch of teenage wannabes living at home, dreaming the dream, 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 learned two more since, but I’ve come to realize you don’t actually really need them at all. My dad who lent us £150 to make our first very recording back in 1978 which was absolutely the launch pad for this very wild ride that we’ve been on ever since.

Now 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’s of major significance, and it goes without saying that without their support, financial and otherwise, things may have turned out very differently.

Another significant moment in this band’s birth was the simple act of missing a bus, which is something that I did one August night in 1977. By deciding 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 a co-founder of the band and one of the best right hands in the business. Now sadly Pete couldn’t be with us tonight, but I want to emphasize how very important Pete’s role in this band was in the early days. He was a terrific player, had a very mischievous sense of humor, but he brought plenty of great musical ideas to the band.

And it was Pete, after a chance meeting in a college canteen, both reaching for the same guitar magazine, who introduced us to the late, great Steve Clark. Over the following 10 years, Steve made a massive musical contribution to this band, his incredible and unique riffs helped shape some of the most important songs we will ever write and it really does go without saying that we love him and we miss him every day.

Two gentlemen who helped take us to a level that we could only previously have dreamt about were 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. We first worked with Mutt in 1981 on an album called High & Dry, but it was 1983 that saw us move into a whole new orbit with the phenomenal success of the album Pryomania, where we were properly introduced to our new boss for the first time — our wonderfully loyal fanbase, without whom we wouldn’t be up here tonight, of that, I have no doubt. You’ve stayed on board for the best part of the following 36 years and supported us through some tough times along the way, but those tough times have helped us make this band what it is today — it’s solid, appreciative of who we are and what we stand for.

Those songs we’ve written over the years were always our main priority, you just have to check out our misguided fashion sense over the years and you’ll understand where I’m coming from here. And although there seemed to be a looming sense of tragedy around every corner, we just wouldn’t let it in. But it’s true, it did seem that every time we made some musical headway, life would knock us back down somewhat. Pyromania is a raging success… then Rick has a life changing accident. He survived it and came out the other side stronger. Hysteria gave us the global success that we’d always craved… and then we lost Steve. But we survived and 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 here, if alcoholism, car crashes and cancer couldn’t kill us, the Nineties had no fucking chance!

So finally I’d like to bring this into the now and thank the people who are helping to keep this beautiful machine on the road, hopefully for many, many more years to come. Our manager Mike Kobayashi who took over the reigns from Howard Kaufman who looked after us from 2005 until his 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, Mike.

To our friends at Universal Records, past and present, especially present. And to our families, to our wives, to our children, who help to keep us grounded and also give us a good reason to keep doing what we do. And last but absolutely not least, my fellow bandmates here. We’re not blood, but we’re the closest thing to brothers this only child has ever known. I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to do it without you guys.