DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT Joins BILLY JOEL For 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' At Detroit's Comerica Park (Video)

DEF LEPPARD's Joe Elliott joined Billy Joel on stage Saturday night (July 9) at Detroit's Comerica Park to perform his band's 1987 hit "Pour Some Sugar On Me".

Joel's performance at the sold-out ballpark, 37,000 strong, took place the night before DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE were scheduled to play the same venue as part of their "The Stadium Tour".

Saturday's concert marked the third time Elliott and Joel had teamed up to play DEF LEPPARD's signature song, following a 2018 pairing at Boston's Fenway Park and a 2019 performance at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In a 2015 interview with SPIN, Elliott spoke about DEF LEPPARD's influence on contemporary pop music. He said: "I notice when it's pointed out to me, because I honestly don't listen to much pop radio. But when I am made aware of it, or just happen to be listening to whatever radio station my friend is tuned to in their car, it's, like, 'Whoa, that sounds a bit like we could've done it.' I started becoming aware of our influence in pop music about 15 years ago when Pink did a radio show with us, and she was standing on the side of the stage singing every word. I was like, well okay, she's a fan. [Laughs] We have people like Jewel or John Mayer or the guys in MAROON 5, all of whom are huge fans. It wasn't just RATT and POISON we were a part of…. [now] all of a sudden you've got Lady Gaga coming out and saying, 'I fucking love DEF LEPPARD,' and we had Taylor Swift wanting to work with us six or seven years ago when she was first kicking off."

He continued: "You are aware of it, and it's flattering, but I think it's down to the fact that we've always been more pop than metal, much to the annoyance of the metal press and metal fans. We were never DIO or ANTHRAX or JUDAS PRIEST… We've always been about [blending] that kind of quirkiness that QUEEN had with the power of AC/DC. It's something we've always felt was kind of our blueprint. So I absolutely hear it in pop because that's essentially who we were. DEF LEPPARD became popular not through being a rock band like [LED] ZEPPELIN or [BLACK] SABBATH. We became popular because our singles were on 'American Bandstand' between KOOL & THE GANG and Michael Jackson. We were the white rock band from the U.K. that people were like, 'What? How did they infiltrate the Top Ten?' And it was because we had these infectious melodies. We weren't afraid of singing about relationships or love, which is something that metal would never do. We were never [singing about] dungeons and dragons. We never will be."

"The Stadium Tour" kicked off on June 16 in Atlanta, Georgia and will conclude on September 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The veteran British rockers are co-headlining "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE, with support from POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS.

DEF LEPPARD's set on the tour includes some of the band's biggest hits, such as "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Photograph" and "Rock Of Ages" — as well as songs from the group's latest album, "Diamond Star Halos", among them "Kick" and "Fire It Up".

DEF LEPPARD's long-delayed North American trek was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022.