November 14, 2024

Skylight Webzine

Online since 2000

Definitely: The Official Story Of Def Leppard to be released May 9th 2023 as hardback book

Genesis Publications confirm that the first-ever anthology of Def Leppard, Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard, previously announced as a limited edition release, will also be available as a hardback edition from all good bookstores.  Released on May 9th 2023, and priced at £35, Definitely: The Official Story of Def Leppard is the ultimate record of Def Leppard’s legendary career and is available to order from defleppardbook.com. The book’s limited editions became the fastest ever books to sell out in Genesis Publications history, after the Collector’s and Deluxe editions were fully subscribed within days of its announcement.

Part memoir, part scrapbook, the wide-ranging narrative from the band chronicles Def Leppard’s incredible story through hundreds of photographs where fans can reminiscence on the band recording in various studios, at promo shoots, on tour in planes, trains, cars and Holiday Inns, backstage and, of course, doing what they are best known for – performing their explosive live shows in front of global audiences from 1978 to the present day.

From extensive new text contributions to in-depth archival interviews, every member’s voice is present within the book including Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass and vocals), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar and vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar and vocals), Tony Kenning (drums), Pete Willis (guitar) and Steve Clark (guitar). Definitely also features introductions by Queen founder and guitar maestro, Brian May, and renowned journalist and senior editor of Rolling Stone, David Fricke. A long-time friend and champion of the group, Brian May delivered the speech for Def Leppard’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, while David Fricke has written about the band from their earliest successes.

‘Def Leppard are original, inimitable and, well, I’m gonna say immortal.’

– Brian May

With unlimited access to the Def Leppard Vault, Definitely presents over 1,300 items of memorabilia and photography, spanning four decades of the band’s history such as handwritten correspondence, rare vinyl pressings, tour memorabilia, set lists, lyrics, stage clothing, music video storyboards, draft album artwork and press cuttings, including many from the band’s early days presented in a wallpaper sample scrapbook compiled by Joe Elliott’s mother, Cindy Elliott. Photographs from band members’ personal archives and fans across the world are featured alongside those taken by renowned rock photographers such as Ross Halfin, Mick Rock and Anton Corbijn.

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Hot off the heels of the biggest North American stadium tour of 2022 with more than 1.3 million tickets sold across 36 dates, the world’s most iconic and celebrated rock legends Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe are currently on tour with their co-headline ‘The World Tour’.

Produced by Live Nation, the world tour kicked off on Saturday, February 18th, 2023 at Foro Sol in Mexico City. Both bands are bringing their electrifying stage shows across the globe with stops throughout Latin America before heading to Europe in May 2023 – which includes a stop at the iconic Wembley Stadium on Saturday, July 1st, 2023 – then wrapping up in Glasgow, UK at Hampden Park on July 6th, 2023. Check defleppard.com for tour dates and tickets.

About Genesis Publications:

Genesis Publications was founded in 1974 in Britain as an independent publishing house true to the arts of printing and craftsmanship. Today, Genesis creates some of the world’s most sought-after books for readers in 90 countries, with new authors in 2023 including Paul Weller, Chuck D and Lenny Kravitz – see more at genesis-publications.com.

About Def Leppard:

With more than 110 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards in the U.S., 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame® inductees Def Leppard – Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick Savage (bass), Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Rick Allen (drums) — continue to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career the band has produced a series of classic ground-breaking albums that set the bar for generations of music fans and artists alike. The group’s spectacular live shows and arsenal of hits have become synonymous with their name, leading Def Leppard to be heralded as the world’s greatest live rock band. Def Leppard’s influential career includes numerous hit singles and ground-breaking multi-platinum albums—including two of the best-selling albums of all time, Pyromania and Hysteria, capturing the group’s legendary tracks, bringing together classic Leppard hits such as “Rock of Ages”, Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Foolin.” For the first time, in January 2018 Def Leppard debuted their full recording catalogue worldwide via streaming and download platforms. As they did with the original release of their records, Def Leppard dominated the worldwide charts again, which found their albums charting in the iTunes Top 10 in more than 30 countries, including Hysteria at #3 in the US, and #5 in the UK (36 years after the album had charted at No 1 in the Billboard charts). Def Leppard also had the #1, #2 and #3 records on the US catalogue albums chart. The band have gone on to amass a staggering 5.5 billion streams since 2018, reaching a younger 18-44 demographic that now represents 58% of their fanbase. Additionally, the band have garnered an impressive 15 million followers across their social media platforms.

In May 2022, Def Leppard released their twelfth studio album Diamond Star Halos. The album debuted at #1 on the Apple and Amazon Music charts. The album also scored a Top 10 debut on North America’s Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, marking the band’s eighth Top 10 album of their career, and garnered a #1 debut on Billboard’s Hard Rock chart. Diamond Star Halos had numerous Top 10 chart entries globally including a Top 5 debut in the UK. Following the close of their historic 2018 co-headline stadium and arena run in North America, Def Leppard sold in excess of 1,000,000 tickets and the tour grossed over $100,000,000.00, a massive feat in today’s touring world. Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe topped that number yet again with another sold out North American stadium run in 2022 selling over 1.3 million tickets which grossed a staggering $173,500,000.00. As always, the group keep pushing the boundaries with their electrifying live shows.