Queen’s Brian May: Def Leppard are family to me

Brian May with Def Leppard at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last week (Image credit: Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic - Getty)

On Friday evening at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by Queen guitarist Brian May.

May and the Sheffield outfit have been friends since the early 80s, with guitarist Phil Collen recently telling Rolling Stone: “We are still the hugest Brian May and Queen fans. 

“I’m so pleased that the movie (Bohemian Rhapsody) was such an amazing success. We love everything they do. They inspire us to no end. I listen to this stuff all the time, and it’s amazing. So to have him there actually honouring us is, it’s huge.”

And, speaking with SiriusXM shortly before he took to the stage, May spoke about what it meant to him to be at the ceremony on behalf of the band.

He said: “I would hate it if anyone else had done it rather than me, because they are family to me and have been for a long time. I love them dearly.

“I know a lot about them, because we spent a lot of time together. They've done stuff for us – particularly with Joe Elliott. I go back, and we've done all kinds of stuff for each other and with each other. 

“We're kind of like brothers, I suppose. So, yeah, I had to do it – I had to be here.”

After being inducted, Def Leppard took to the stage and played HysteriaRock Of Ages, Photograph and Pour Some Sugar On Me.

They then returned at the end of the ceremony to lead an all-star jam through Mott The Hoople’s All The Young Dudes with Ian Hunter.

Def Leppard will play 12 nights in Las Vegas between August 14 - September 7 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.