Def Leppard's Joe Elliott hospitalised by altitude sickness in Colombia

A picture of Joe Elliott performing live with Def Leppard in 2023
(Image credit: Photo by Medios y Media/Getty Images))

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott was hospitalised in Colombia and diagnosed with "moderate to severe altitude sickness" on Friday.

The band arrived in Bogota for the next show on their co-headlining world tour with Motley Crue. And despite Elliott's illness, Saturday's gig at Parque Simon Bolivar will go ahead as planned.

Shortly after arriving in Colombia on Friday, Elliott checked in to a Bogota hospital suffering with a shortness of breath.

In a video update posted on social media hours before the show, Elliott says: "I am alive and well. Little woozy, I'll be honest. Moderate-to-severe altitude sickness. I would hate to know what severe altitude sickness is. I wouldn't want to wish it on my worst enemy.

"But here I am. Apparently the Internet lit up, so I'm here to put everybody that cares about it minds at rest. I'm here, and we're going on at 8pm."

Def Leppard released their 12th album Diamond Star Halos in May of last year. It was voted the best album of 2022 in Classic Rock magazine's annual end-of-year writers poll.

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Def Leppard and Motley Crue 2023 tour

Feb 25: Bogota Parque Simon Bolivar, COL
Feb 28: Lima Estadio Nacional, PER

Mar 03: Santiago Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida, CHI
Mar 07: Sao Paulo Allianz Parque, BRA
Mar 09: Curitiba Estádio Couto Pereira, BRA
Mar 11: Porto Alegre Arena do Grêmio, BRA

May 22: Sheffield Bramall Lane, UK
May 25: Mönchengladbach Sparkassen Park, GER
May 27: Munich Koenigsplatz, GER
May 29: Budapest MVM Dome, HUN
May 31: Krakow Tauron Arena Kraków, POL

Jun 02: Prague Rocks, CZE
Jun 03: Hannover Expo Plaza, GER
Jun 07: Solvesborg, Sweden Rock Festival, SWE
Jun 09: Helsinki RockFest, FIN
Jun 11: Trondheim Rocks, NOR
Jun 14: Copenhagen Copenhell, DEN
Jun 18: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, BEL
Jun 20: Milan Ippodromo SNAI San Siro, ITA
Jun 23: Lisbon Passeio Maritimo de Alges, POR
Jun 24: Rivas-Vaciamadrid Auditorio Miguel Ríos, SPA
Jun 27: Thun Stockhorn Arena, SWI

Jul 01: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jul 02: Lytham Festival, UK
Jul 04: Dublin Marlay Park, Ireland
Jul 06: Glasgow Hampden Park, UK

Aug 05: Syracuse JMA Wireless Dome, NY
Aug 08: Columbus Ohio Stadium, OH
Aug 11: Fargo Fargodome, ND
Aug 13: Omaha Charles Schwab Field Omaha, NE
Aug 16: Tulsa H.A. Chapman Stadium, OK
Aug 18: El Paso Sun Bowl Stadium, TX

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.