If you spend any amount of time talking to Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, one of the best things you’ll discover is that he’s a real music fan, rabidly passionate for the things, artists and bands that he loves, just like you.
With Bad Company’s pending induction this weekend into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we got together with Joe for a lengthy conversation where he shared plenty of stories with us, tracing his love of Free, Mott the Hoople and eventually, Bad Company.
“No band deserves it more,” he told UCR via Zoom. “I’m happy that Mick Ralphs knew he was in before he passed. I remember Paul [Rodgers] saying to me, ‘You should have seen the smile on his face when I told him.’ Those are the things that make me happy. You know, the music’s what we’re there for, really.”
Understandably, it was a fever dream come true for the vocalist, working with two of his heroes, Rodgers and Simon Kirke. The pair joined Elliott and Def Leppard bandmate Phil Collen to record a new version of the Bad Company classic, “Seagull.” The song appears on Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company.