Def Leppard talk cancer, concert film, new music

Rocking with Def Leppard between bouts of chemotherapy proved healing for guitarist Vivian Campbell.

The 51-year-old musician relied on his bandmates and the thrill of performing to help him through a diagnosis of Hodgkins lymphoma (he started treatment in April). The band hit the road this summer for a monthlong tour that wrapped in July.

“We've actually been able to work through it,” said Campbell. “We did the shows in Europe while I was doing chemo … and mentally that was a big part of my recovery.”

After more than 30 years together, Def Leppard isn’t slowing down for cancer — or anything else.

Fans can get a front-row seat to see the band at local theaters this week in “Def Leppard Viva! Hysteria Concert.” Filmed during a Las Vegas residency earlier this year, it shows the quintet doing something unprecedented: performing the 1987 megahit album, “Hysteria,” live from start to finish.

“It was fun, actually, and a totally different way of doing it,” said guitarist Phil Collen. “It was a different dynamic doing the album in full, and it was much more theatrical.”

Next up for Def Leppard? New music.

The fivesome, which also includes bass player Rick Savage, plan to meet in Dublin in the new year to start writing.

“A whole Def Leppard album would probably take a bit long,” Collen said. “So we’re probably going to do an EP or something, get that out, then perhaps the year after, release an album.”

Source: freep.com