DEF LEPPARD Announces Summer 2026 European Tour

DEF LEPPARD has announced a European tour for the summer of 2026. The trek, with special guest EXTREME, will kick off in Rättvik, Sweden on June 26 and wrap up on July 30 at the Wacken Open Air festival on July 30.

Rock Brigade Concert Club members will get first access to tickets and VIP packages tomorrow, Tuesday, September 2 at 10 a.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, September 5.

To join the Rock Brigade or renew your membership, visit DefLeppardRockBrigade.com.

"We're looking forward to playing Radio 2 in the Park in Chelmsford this week, our only U.K. date of 2025," says DEF LEPPARD frontman Joe Elliott. "But we're also very buzzed to announce our U.K. and Euro dates in 2026!

"Playing to our home crowd and our fans in Europe is very important to us, and we'll be bringing a brand new show that will feature some surprises as well as the classics! See you soon!"

Adds DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen: "It's a dream to be coming back to the U.K. and Europe in June and July next year. And to be coming back with our good friends EXTREME is a bonus. It's going to be an incredible night for all the fans!"

2026 tour dates:

June 13 - Rättvik, Sweden @ Dalhalla *
June 16 - Helsinki, Finland @ Veikkaus Arena
June 19 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
June 23 - Dortmund, Germany @ Westfalenhalle
June 26 - Belfast, UK @ Belsonic
June 28 - Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
June 30 - Sheffield, UK @ Utilita Arena
July 02 - London, UK @ The O2
July 04 - Birmingham, UK @ BP Pulse Live
July 06 - Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
July 30 - Wacken, Germany @ Wacken Open Air ^
August 02 - Dubai, UAE @ Coca-Cola Arena *

* an evening with DEF LEPPARD
^ Festival date

In a recent interview with Houston Life, Elliott and Collen spoke about DEF LEPPARD's upcoming third Las Vegas residency. "Def Leppard: Live at Caesars Palace The Las Vegas Residency" will set the strip alight from February 3 through 28, 2026 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. These new shows follow the band's sold-out residency successes in 2019 and 2013.

Regarding how the idea for the latest residency came about, Phil said: " It's our third time doing a residency in Vegas… And we've been talking about this one… We played a stadium there a couple of years ago, and some of the people came down and we know them and everything. It's, like, what'd be really good? So it kind of got thrown about then. So that's when the thing happened. Then all of a sudden it's, like, 'Caesars. It's there if you want it.' It's, like, 'Yeah, great.' And it's February. The last time we'd done a residency, it was July or August, and it was, like, 108 degrees [Fahrenheit] every time you walked outside. So, yeah, a little bit more kind of cool."

On the topic of how DEF LEPPARD chooses its setlist for the crowd in Las Vegas, Joe said: "Yeah, it's always a challenge. But we've kind of grown into a routine of what we like to call the A, B and C list. And your A list is your crown jewels, the ones that if you don't play them, you wouldn't get out the building alive. And then there's the B list of interesting stuff. And then the C list is, like, 'Oh, that's interesting. They haven't played that one in 40 years.' And so we are still juggling it now. I mean, we're just pouring names into a bucket and stirring 'em around, and the ones that come to the surface where all five of us go, 'Yeah, we should do that.' And there is so many to choose from, but there's a logic to what we do, and we have to feel comfortable with what we're doing, and if we feel comfortable doing it, I think that energy goes across the audience and they get it. And so they accept what we play."

Asked if standing in front of thousands of people and performing some of the most iconic songs of all time and having the fans sing almost every word back to the band is why they still do what they do, Joe said: "I would say yeah, because that's what we watched as kids. When we went to gigs or we saw on TV the response of a crowd to a song that we got off on, whether it be a BEATLES song or a [ROLLING] STONES song or [LED ZEPPELIN's] 'Stairway To Heaven' or [BLACK SABBATH's] 'Paranoid' or wherever it was, and you go, 'Wow, I hope that happens to me.' Or before you're in a band, you go, 'I wish I could be in that position.' And we are in that position, and especially like '[Pour Some] Sugar [On Me]' or 'Photograph', we've been in that position for 30, 35, 40 years where that song is, they're just waiting, they're waiting and waiting, and [they know] we're not gonna play it first. That's another thing about making sure you have a running order that is — it's sexy and it makes sense and it teases people into a frenzy, if you like. That's what every artist is supposed to do, especially if they're a rock band."

Tickets for the following 12 shows went on sale on July 25:

February 2026: 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28

The veteran British rockers played their first concert of 2025 on January 18 at Feria Estatal De León in León, Mexico. As was the case with the band's October 14, 2024 private show in Nashville (as part of the Daimler Truck Customer Appreciation Event),DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell was unable to join his bandmates at the León gig and was replaced by John Zocco, who is Phil Collen's guitar tech. Campbell has since rejoined DEF LEPPARD on the road.

Late last year, Vivian underwent a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment plan for Hodgkin's lymphoma, with which he was diagnosed in 2013.

In June, Campbell revealed that he is "completely in remission" from the cancer of the lymphatic system.

This past January, DEF LEPPARD released a cover of Ben E. King's 1961 classic "Stand By Me". All proceeds from the song are going to FireAid, which raises money for those impacted by the fires that swept through Los Angeles early this year.

DEF LEPPARD's version of the song is featured in the Netflix film "Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger", which was released on January 10. The band can be seen performing the track before the credits.

Campbell — who before joining DEF LEPPARD in 1992 was well known for his work with DIO and WHITESNAKE — went public with his Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in June 2013.

Vivian underwent three separate spells of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, only for his Hodgkin's lymphoma to return.

Six years ago, Campbell underwent spine surgery.

Vivian and his DEF LEPPARD bandmates were finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2019 — 14 years after the British rockers first became eligible.

DEF LEPPARD's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", arrived in May 2022 via UMe.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin