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Joe Elliott
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Joe Elliott | |
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 Joe Elliott live in 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Thomas Elliott |
| Born | August 01, 1959  Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England |
| Genre(s) | NWOBHM Heavy metal Hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Songwriter Producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitar Acoustic guitar Keyboards Piano Bass Drums Percussion |
| Years active | 1977 - present |
| Label(s) | Island Mercury Polygram |
| Associated acts |
Def Leppard Cybernauts |
| Website | http://www.defleppard.com |
Joseph Thomas Elliott (born 1 August 1959, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and educated at King Edward VII School) is the lead vocalist of the British rock band Def Leppard.
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Elliott first met Pete Willis in November 1977 by chance when he missed a bus. After finding out that they were both musicians, he met the rest of the members of Atomic Mass and auditioned, first as a guitarist, and then as a singer. The rest of the band was impressed by him, and hired him. The band even took Elliott's suggestion to change their name to "Deaf Leopard," which was later changed to "Def Leppard" because at the time punk bands with animals in their name were very popular in Britain and Def Leppard did not want to be a punk band. Elliott soon became an integral part of the band contributing also with his songwriting skills.
As a songwriter, Elliott has drawn from his eclectic tastes in music (that range from pop-rock to folk and anything in between) as sources of inspiration. He also often comments that the lyrics to Def Leppard's music are not personal; they are meant to be easily accessible to the listener. He also plays guitar and drums, as well as piano and electronic keyboard.
Elliott has worked with several side projects through his career. Among them, he has worked in numerous tributes to other artists like Freddie Mercury, Alice Cooper, Mick Ronson, Ian Hunter,and David Bowie, among others. He had the honour of opening the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 by joining the remaining members of Queen and Slash to perform "Tie Your Mother Down."
He also has guested on several projects like Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood's solo album Slide On This;" Lori Spree's Those Faces;" Ricky Warwick, The Almighty, and others.
He and fellow Def Leppard member/guitarist Phil Collen once had a side project together called Cybernauts. The project was short-lived, and the internet album that was online has been deleted since its mid-1990s release.
Released in September of 2003 through Sanctuary Records, Ricky Warwick's Tattoos & Alibis was produced by Elliott.
- Elliott currently lives in Dublin, Ireland, with his wife Kristine.
- Joe maintains a recording studio in his home called Joe's Garage in which he has recorded and produced many major artists. Artists have also recorded in Joe's Garage while Joe has been on the road with Def Leppard.
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- Elliott auditioned for Def Leppard (then known as Atomic Mass) singing Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." He missed the octave change in the song but the band was so impressed with his looks and enthusiasm that they took him anyway.
- During Def Leppard's early days Elliott worked in a bread factory where while sweeping up he would pretend to be AC/DC frontman Bon Scott.
- In addition to singing, Joe plays guitar, bass, piano and drums; and can be seen (with KISS style make-up) playing drums in the band's music video to the song Rocket (at about 1:48 into the video). The song was a tribute to the 1970s bands they grew up listening to. In that scene, actual drummer Rick Allen is seen along the other bandmates fronting the band, all donning makeup in a tribute to the glam bands of their youth.
- Unlike bandmate Rick Savage who supports Sheffield Wednesday, Elliott is an avid Sheffield United fan.
- Elliott has stated on many occasions that his favourite band is Mott the Hoople.
- His other big influences are David Bowie,T.Rex, and Queen.
- Has battled the mumps twice throughout his life, being stricken with them the 2nd time while recording the bands hit album, Hysteria.
- Is good friends with Ricky Warwick, having produced, and performing back up vocals on Ricky Warwick's Love Many Trust Few album. Rick has also returned the favor performing backup vocals on several of Def Leppard's albums.
- He is naturally left-handed, although he plays guitar right-handed.
- Joe Elliott Biography on Def Leppard Frequency
- Joe Elliott @ Def Leppard UK