Def Leppard out of US tour as Elliott rests throat

Def Leppard have cancelled the remaining 10 dates on their winter US tour.

Frontman Joe Elliott is suffering from a throat problem and has been ordered to rest.

The run of shows only kicked off on January 27, but that first show in Greensboro, North Carolina, was pulled due to Elliott’s illness. Def Lep did play in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 29 but the next night’s show in Orlando was also pulled.

And the band have now confirmed all remaining dates are off, but have promised to reschedule them.

In a statement, the band say: “Def Leppard have postponed the remaining dates on their Winter 2016 tour due to illness. All shows from February 2 in San Antonio, TX, through February 17 Allentown, PA, will be rescheduled – including the previously postponed dates in Greensboro, NC, and Orlando, FL.

“Details on new dates will be announced soon. Tickets will be honoured on the rescheduled dates.”

On Twitter, drummer Rick Allen says: “The doctor basically said that if Joe continues to sing without resting his throat for a month he might do permanent damage.”

Last year, Elliott revealed he had been suffering from bronchial spasms, saying doctors had no explanation for his coughing but that he believed it was brought on by dust and gas emissions at biker festival they had played previously.

Elliott was also forced to sit out a performance on Def Lep’s Hysteria On The High Seas cruise last week.

DEF LEPPARD CANCELLED TOUR DATES 2016

Feb 02: San Antonio AT&T Center, TX
Feb 03: Lafayette Lafayette Cajundome, LA
Feb 05: Corpus Christi American Bank Center Arena, TX
Feb 06: Hidalgo State Farm Arena, TX
Feb 09: Little Rock Verizon Arena, AR
Feb 10: Bossier City CenturyLink Center, LA
Feb 13: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Feb 14: Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall, NJ
Feb 16: Brooklyn Barclays Center, NY
Feb 17: Allentown PPL Center, PA

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.