How Def Leppard saved the life of Queen’s Brian May: “Joe Elliot saved my life!”
Sheffield has a musical history that locals hold incredibly close to their hearts. Bands such as Pulp and Arctic Monkeys are guaranteed to fill dance floors throughout the city as murals are painted, buildings are dedicated, and pints are named after them. However, before any of them, a heavy metal band from the Steel City would take over the world, none other than Def Leppard.
Def Leppard don’t have a sound that is typical of the northern city. While many people are happy to use their accents, talk about the town and are incredibly grounded in their approach to sound, Def Leppard go in the opposite direction. Adopting a glam rock look and having a sound that is laced with the classic tones of LA, Def Leppard are a band for escapism, and they have been making for good nights in Sheffield and beyond ever since they started making music.
Of course, sometimes, their music can be so addictive that people become lost in it, completely embedded within the beauty that makes up tracks like ‘Love Bites’, ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ that the escapism becomes all too real. No longer are they on Earth; they are in a glam rock purgatory, one filled with killer guitar solos and vocals that no fan of rock music would ever want to depart from.
Brian May found himself in this purgatory once, and the same band that could have cost him his life were also responsible for saving it. As he joined Def Leppard on stage, he got so lost in their music and his own playing ability that he didn’t realise where on the stage he was standing. This is dangerous anyway, but is especially so at this time, at the height of pyromania.
May recalled the incident when he gave a speech inducting Def Leppard into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. “Joe [Elliot, Def Leppard front man] warned me, he said ‘Watch out for the fireworks at the end Bri, you know, be careful’, but I’m at the end, we finish soloing, we’re up behind the drums, and there’s a kind of chasm in front of us where the fires gunna come out. I have no idea.”
He continued, “I’m gone, I’m giving it all this,” he says while miming playing his best air guitar, “And Joe’s going, ‘Bri! Bri!’ And I’m thinking he’s just kind of appreciating me, you know?… Anyway, this huge sheet of flame comes up in front of me and just in time Joe’s dragged me out of it, otherwise I wouldn’t be here tonight. So early on in our career, Joe Elliott saved my life!”
Who knew that people had Joe Elliott to thank both for the music of Def Leppard and the music of Queen. If May had been stood in the wrong place that night, who is to say what could have happened? It is now reeled off as a fun anecdote, but there is no doubt that moment represents what could have been a massive turning point in all of music.
