DEF LEPPARD Frontman: 'I'd Much Rather Be KEITH RICHARDS Than TONY BLAIR'

August 20, 2009

Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle recently conducted an interview with DEF LEPPARD frontman Joe Elliott. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the band's longevity:

"It's dedication to your art. It's a million things. This is what we do for a living, so we want to do it well. It's realizing that we did wake up at a very young age, and God had somehow empowered and blessed us. It's watching other bands that were great once deteriorate rapidly and go, 'That's never going to happen to me.' It's a case of making sure that at 9 o'clock or 9:30, whenever you're onstage, that you're at the best you can possibly be vocally or mentally. I know it sounds old and clichéd, but I hate the idea of turning up somewhere and looking like we don't care. We just can't do that."

On the band's constant touring:

"In the mid-'90s, we saw a few people go away. Maybe they didn't like the output that we were putting out. A lot of it may have been that they weren't 18 anymore. They were married, mortgage, kids — can't afford to come. (But) it starts to turn around again. All of a sudden, our crowds start to double and triple. You see the people coming back, because now I suppose they can afford a baby sitter or they bring their kids with them."

On turning 50 years old:

"A lot of us don't get to 50. Me and you can roll off a vast amount of people that would still get coverage in Rolling Stone (who have been) dead longer than we've been a band. It's not like you wake up gray and limping. I don't feel any different than I did when I was 18, to be quite honest. It's just that I've got all these experiences. I think this is license to put your growing up on hiatus. Growing old you can't help. I'd much rather be Keith Richards than Tony Blair."

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