DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT Talks VIVIAN CAMPBELL's Health, QUEEN's Tour With ADAM LAMBERT (Audio)

On July 24, DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott was interviewed on the the "Morning Jolt" show on the WDHA 105.5 FM radio station in New Jersey. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud player below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell is doing in his ongoing battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma:

Joe: "In fairness to him, he's up and down, but he's actually quite up at the moment. He's playing great and he looks great; he's having a lot of fun out on stage. He doesn't have the big, long curls anymore, but they'll come back, and he's in good spirits; that's the important thing. So he's fighting this thing, which is Hodgkin's lymphoma. 'Cause we said, 'Why don't you just take the summer off?' And he [said], 'No, no. For me, this is mentally as much as it's physical. I've got to do this.' And we're right behind him.

"Things like this will happen to anybody, in any walk of life. If you've got a collection of five people, and you just ask what's happened over the last 35 years, you'll probably find a lot more tragedy than you'll find in our band. People focus in on those [things], whether it be Vivian or [DEF LEPPARD guitarist] Steve [Clark's death] or [drummer] Rick's [Allen] [car] accident [that resulted in him losing his arm], they make their big deal of it, 'cause they are a big deal, but this would happen to any random five people; you'd probably see worse things, really. But the fact is, we're a band, and this particular lineup has been together for 22 years now — over 22 years — which is ridiculous when you think THE BEATLES were only together for eight [years]."

On QUEEN's decision to tour, with "American Idol" finalist Adam Lambert once again fronting the band:

Joe: "Well, I actually think that, in fairness, it's probably a more realistic lineup than the one with Paul Rodgers, because QUEEN was very flamboyant when they had Freddie Mercury — very, very flamboyant — and Adam Lambert is very, very flamboyant. Paul Rodgers was… not that he wasn't flamboyant, but he's a lot more testosterone driven than either Fred or Adam Lambert are. So, having not seen it — this is just pure guesswork and speculation on my part — I would imagine that it probably sounds closer to what QUEEN with Fred sounded, because of the way that Adam Lambert sings. It's gonna split opinions — I know it is — because some people think that they [QUEEN] shouldn't have this guy there, and there's other people that are gonna think it's great."