Joe Elliott, lead singer of Def Leppard, confirmed to Metro UK that his band is going to chill for at least a year.
"I’m doing this because I have the time," said Elliott. "After you have a hit like Hysteria and you’re signed to the corporate machine it becomes an albatross around your neck. As much as our music is anthemic rock’n’roll it’s a business at the end of the day. It’s stressful and gets harder each time you make a record. No one’s comparing this to Hysteria, it’s got nothing to do with it. It’s a refreshing change. It’s like being a teenager in a 50-year-old body."
When the band suddenly canceled 23 concerts of their North American tour this year, citing "personal reasons", there were rumours about health issues and burnout.
Elliott has since refuted these by saying that he jsut wants to spend more time with his girlfriend who recently gave birth to her first child.
The group’s guitarist, Phil Collen, wasted no time starting his vacation. Last Friday (July 16), the 52-year-old musician married his girlfriend, the designer Helen L. Simmons, in Florida. The couple have been dating since 2008.