DEF LEPPARD Is 'A Few Songs Short' Of Having Two New Albums' Worth Of Material: 'We're Still Finishing Off', Says RICK SAVAGE

DEF LEPPARD bassist Rick Savage has told People magazine that he and his bandmates have already come up with enough ideas for an entire follow-up to 2022's "Diamond Star Halos" LP.

"We've really got enough material, and we'll have enough material to take us through to the end of the decade pretty much," Savage said. "We're a few songs short of having two albums."

Savage added that DEF LEPPARD is still working on new music and expects its thirteenth studio album to be released late this year or in early 2027.

"It's an ongoing process, really," Savage said. "If we needed to put the album out next week, we absolutely could, but we're still writing, we're still recording, we're still finishing off. It's like we always say, the last 20% takes 80% of the time to get it right. So, we're kind of in that process."

Last month DEF LEPPARD released a new single "Rejoice". The dynamic track came ahead of DEF LEPPARD's triumphant return to Las Vegas for their "Def Leppard: Live at Caesars Palace The Las Vegas Residency" that kicked off on Tuesday (February 3). "Rejoice" is available via UMe now on all streaming platforms. Watch the official lyric video below.

DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott stated about how "Rejoice" was created: "This song's been an amazing journey from concept to conclusion. I said to Phil [Collen, DEF LEPPARD guitarist] one day, 'I've got this idea for a lyric where the narrator is at absolute rock bottom and wants to rise up to a higher level. Do you have a musical piece that might match with that?' And he said, 'As it happens, yes I do.'"

Collen added: "I had this riff, this idea for a song a while ago actually, so when Joe came to me I created this drum loop based with a tribal sound and it fit perfectly with this other arrangement I had. I sent it to Joe and it was like magic — he sang straight over the top of it. And that's how the song was formed. Then we gave it to Ronan [McHugh] who'd done a proper drum loop with different sounds. It all started gelling and just sounded like a powerful chant. We love it. It's hard rock for us. It's got a bit more of an 'oomph' than stuff we've been doing for a while. It's kind of magical."

Last November, DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen told The Sessions Panel that there was "lots of new music for DEF LEPPARD coming. I can't really talk about it that much, but the songs that I've been involved with, the songs that I've helped with recording. There's still quite a lot to do — details, some overdubs, that kind of thing. But the music is strong. We are fans of it, so we figure if we are fans of it, then other people are gonna love it."

In September 2025, Elliott confirmed that the band was working on its thirteenth studio LP. He told Planet Rock's Paul Anthony: "We're working through a new album right now, which won't be out [in 2026], but we may — and probably will — release a new song in time for [the Las] Vegas [residency] and then release another one again for the British tour [in June]. That's the plan that we have right now… So, we're gonna kind of drip feed songs from the album and then it'll [album] come out late '26, early '27 maybe."

In January 2025, DEF LEPPARD released a cover of Ben E. King's 1961 classic "Stand By Me". All proceeds from the song went to FireAid, which raises money for those impacted by the fires that swept through Los Angeles in January 2025.

DEF LEPPARD's version of the song is featured in the Netflix film "Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger", which was released in January 2025. The band can be seen performing the track before the credits.

DEF LEPPARD's "Just Like 73" single, featuring a guest guitar solo from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, was made available in June 2024.

DEF LEPPARD's 12th studio album, "Diamond Star Halos", came out in 2022. A year later, the band followed it up with "Drastic Symphonies", a collection of reimagining of some of DEF LEPPARD's greatest hits with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road. The album spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Current Classical chart.

In late 2024, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell underwent a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment plan for Hodgkin's lymphoma, with which he was diagnosed in 2013.

In June 2025, Campbell revealed that he is "completely in remission" from the cancer of the lymphatic system.

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.

Seven 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.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin (courtesy of Ume)