Wanna get rocked? You’re in luck: Def Leppard are coming to town with a battery of anthems that make whole arenas chant along, whether its “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Armageddon It” or the afore-referenced “Let’s Get Rocked.” 

Formed in the UK in 1977, Def Leppard have been a steady touring and recording presence ever since, and an inspiration for air guitarists everywhere for close to 50 years. At their ’80s-’90s peak they released a trifecta of albums that ruled MTV and rock radio. 1983’s Pyromania, 1992’s Adrenalize, and most especially 1987’s Hysteria were inescapable with their hard-driving riffs and earworm refrains.

The band has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and in 2019 Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The five-piece lineup on tour this year hasn’t changed in ages: singer Joe Elliott, bassist Rick Savage, drummer Rick Allen, and guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell.

When I spoke to Campbell in 2015 for a New Times article, he was already 23 years into the job but said he still felt like the new guy. Campbell joined Def Leppard after the death in 1991 of one of the band’s founding guitarists and songwriters, Steve Clark. Campbell told me that being accepted into an established group requires not just proficiency with the songs, but knowing how to mesh in the “submarine duty” close quarters of band life over the long haul.

Knowing what audiences want when they come to a Def Leppard gig —  “good, old-fashioned, high-energy rock ’n’ roll” — was also key, Campbell noted. With more than a dozen Top 40 singles to pick from, Campbell quipped, “the downside is that we have to play them all.”

But he emphasized that every audience includes someone hearing these hits live for the first time, and how important it is that the energy and positivity don’t feel faked. Here in 2025, the mandate is no doubt the same: to make concertgoers feel well and truly rocked.

Def Leppard perform 8pm Friday, August 29 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood defleppard.com ~ David Rolland