July 18, 2008 / 780 reads
In a brand new message posted at DEF LEPPARDÂ's official web site, Elliott writes, "Whoah boys, slow down!!! Well, Bret has a point, we DID lip-synch on Â'Dancing With The StarsÂ'... absolutely... a show theyÂ'd love to be on, no doubt! But it was two-fold. One, the nature of the show didnÂ't lean towards a full live performance, too many restrictions, so we lip-synched — the way ALL artists do when they shoot videos (and the same as we did on Â'American BandstandÂ' 25 years ago, and every time we did Â'Top Of The PopsÂ', dozens of times, so to us Englishmen, itÂ's no big deal). Two, I had a severe respritory infection, as highlighted by my croaking through the (absolutely 100[%] live!) Â'EllenÂ' show performance the day before! My throat doctor (Dr. Sugarman, possibly BretÂ's doctor too!) advised me NOT to sing for a week, but these shows were all on the week our new album was released, so canceling wasnÂ't an option.... hence my rather again croaky performance on Â'Jimmy Kimmel Live!Â' the next night! I was simply making the following simple point when I said a lot of those Hollywood bands werenÂ't Â'realÂ' (or whatever I said)... I was born Joseph Elliott, Sav was born Richard Savage, Rick was born Richard Allen, Phil was born Philip Collen, Viv was born Vivian Campbell, and oh, Steve was born Stephen Clark. I donÂ't think anyone in POISON uses their real name, do they? And I could name hundreds of others who donÂ't, but POISON came to mind because I was asked about them! ItÂ's nothing personal, it was just an answer to a question. As for being Â'crucifiedÂ' for lip-synching, one DJ on KLOS doesnÂ't worry me, however, a Top 5 entry in the Billboard album chart the week after and very healthy ticket sales seems to lean towards the fact that most of our fans knew that I was sick and that I Â'took one for the team,Â' as it were. Calm down boys, youÂ've heard worse, no?! Hey... Rikki implies weÂ're miming on tour?! HA!!! Well, heÂ's welcome to come see us anytime he wants... Obviously not used to hearing a good band very often then, is he?? :) Also, glitter rock may well have been re-christened in the 80Â's by er, someone in Hollywood, but trust me, I WAS THERE in 1972 in the UK, when Bowie, Bolan, SLADE, SWEET etc..... ruled with GLAM ROCK! Check out some old mags and youÂ'll see for yourself. IÂ'm no historian, just a big fan, but sorry, Rikki (excuse me if IÂ've spelled that wrong, though!), youÂ're wrong here, mate... very wrong! As you might say yourself, chill dude, just shootinÂ' the shit! PS: Rikki — John Lennon is dead, in case no no told you... And Â'ElliottÂ' is spelled with 2 Â'TÂ's..."
