Def Leppard Performs Classics on ‘Kimmel’ – Billboard

In the year 1987, rock was top of the heap. The late Eddie Van Halen was still the king of the axe, U2 and The Edge were on top of the world. And Def Leppard’s Hysteria hit like a rocket.

With Robert John “Mutt” Lange on production duties, the British heavy metal band found a new sound. It was a steam train, a rock ‘n’ roll juggernaut with sugar poured on it.

The followup to their breakthrough Pyromania from 1983, Hysteria had it all. Here was a collection of pop songs on steroids, hits with more muscle than Gold’s Gym, a stick of musical dynamite that blew up everywhere.

Hailing from Sheffield, England’s old steel city, Def Leppard scored the most venerated of silverware in 2019 with induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

They remain one of only a small clique of rock bands to earn RIAA Double Diamond status, that is for ten million units of two or more original studio albums sold in the United States.

On Wednesday night (May 25), Joe Elliott and Co. stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to drop a three-song mini-bomb of classics, featuring the classics “Rock of Ages” (from Pyromania), “Hysteria” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (both from Hysteria). The trio is now packaged for streaming as an “off-air” performance. 

The late-night appearance is merely a warm-up for the release this Friday (May 27) of Diamond Star Halos, the group’s 12th full-length album. The LP spawned “Kick,” a Top 40 debutant on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart last month, the rockers’ first ranking on that tally since March 2003.

A full-scale U.S. stadium tour in support will kick off June 16 at Suntrust Park in Atlanta, GA.

Come and get it on below.