Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has opened up about the band’s Rock And Roll Hall of Fame induction, noting that he believes it was a well-deserved honour for the group.
Each and every year, the nominations and inductions for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame manage to generate large amounts of controversy.
While artists such as Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor claim they “couldn’t give less of a shit” about the divisive honour, others like Suzi Quatro and Ted Nugent claim that it’s either “disgusting” or “sacrilege” that they are yet to be inducted.
Back in October, the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame announced its nominees for its class of 2019, with some newcomers and ‘frequent fliers’ making the list.
While the likes of The Cure, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music, and The Zombies ended up being inducted, so too were Def Leppard, who also topped the fan vote.
Following the announcement of their induction, frontman Joe Elliott told Billboard that the band are “not taking anything for granted”.
“It’s not really gonna change my life, really, one way or the other,” Elliott explained. “But Jon Bon Jovi has been telling me for at least 12 months that yes, it will.”
Now, guitarist Vivian Campbell has added his voice to the mix, explaining that he feels it’s an honour that the band truly deserves.
Check out Def Leppard’s ‘Rocket’:
Speaking to Metal Wani’s Jesse David (via Blabbermouth) recently, Campbell explained that their induction isn’t something that’s always on their mind, but claims that it’s “something that we deserve, to be honest.”
“The band has a legacy,” he explained. “The band has been together over 40 years and has created a tremendous body of work and sold multi-millions of records around the world. And we continue to refine our craft and our show.”
“It’s a good feeling, to be honest. But, like I said, it’s not something that we would have spent a lot of time thinking about prior to it.”
“I think one thing that really resonates with us is the fact that we got the largest-ever popular vote. That really kind of resonates with us. That means a lot to us, because our fanbase has always been very, very loyal with Leppard.”
Check out Vivian Campbell’s interview on Metal Wani:
“In terms of industry recognition, I’ve always long felt that Def Leppard kind of got sidelined and ignored, and this goes way back to before I was in the band,” Campbell, who joined the band in 1992, explained.
“I remember in 1987 when the Hysteria record came out, I was completely dumbfounded as to why Def Leppard not only didn’t win a Grammy, didn’t even get nominated for a Grammy, and now it’s one of the biggest-selling albums of all time and a landmark record in so many ways, and it just got completely ignored by the industry.”
“That kind of cemented my views. I feel like industry awards, I don’t put a lot of stock in them on a personal level. It’s much, much more meaningful to have a fanbase than it is to have a bunch of Grammys or Gold records on your wall.”
“We’re musicians and we’re creative people and we write music and we record music and we put it out there, and sometimes it resonates with people, and other times, it withers on the vine,” Campbell concluded.
“But the real reward is in the beauty of the music and creating something beautiful and playing it live night after night is to me, personally, the greatest reward of all and seeing the joy that it brings to people.”
The 34th Annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is set to take place on March 29th in Cleveland, Ohio.
Check out Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14iHRpk9qvQ
