Another Female Singer Covers DEF LEPPARD: Free Download Available

Mariah Carey's version of DEF LEPPARD's "Bringin' On The Heartbreak", which was released as a single recently, generated renewed interest in another female singer covering a LEPPARD classic: Emm Gryner recorded her version, or should we say interpretation, of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" a couple of years ago.

Says Emm: "I was the only 12 year-old girl in town with the cover of 'Hysteria' sewn to the back of my jacket. My older brothers had 'Pyromania' on LP but it was 'Hysteria' that was my salvation from a tedious existence as a straight-A, piano-playing Catholic schoolgirl. Fearless LEPPARD melodies and production translated for me into the most magical music my little ears had ever heard."

"Many years later (13, to be exact) my career as a songwriter and recording artist was in full swing and one day, I got the very exciting call to join David Bowie's band. Our tour dates took us to Dublin where backstage, I met [DEF LEPPARD singer] Joe Elliott. Luckily, I had one of my solo albums, 'Science Fair', on me. He became enamored with it, and we became friends.

"Christmas rolled around and I was thinking of something groovy to send Joe — that's when the piano-ridden, classically-influenced rendition of 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' was born. The cover was literally created for this reason to send to him as a gift. He must have liked it, because he wrote me a letter raving about it and went on to tell me about the strange coincidence that he was covering Bowie songs with THE CYBERNAUTS at that time."

"The cover of 'Sugar' became a cult favorite in Canada, so when I released 'Girl Versions' (my own covers album) the next year, I of course included it. Since then, the song has become a well-loved, heavily-requested track at my concerts.

"When I planned to perform the song on one of Canada's premier late-night talk shows, I ran into some difficulty due to the fact that it was not my own song, and the publishing company had issues with it going to broadcast. That was when Joe proved that he, indeed, can be a hero just for one day, by contacting the show directly and giving the producers permission for me to play it."

"Girl Versions" was nominated for a Juno Award for "Best Pop Album of the Year" in 2001, alongside THE COWBOY JUNKIES and LEONARD COHEN. For all DEF LEPPARD fans who are interested in Emm's version of "Sugar", Emm offers a free download of the song, free of charge, right here.