When Grunge Hit: Def Leppard’s Comeback Story with Joe Elliott episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 26, 2026 · 21 MIN

When Grunge Hit: Def Leppard’s Comeback Story with Joe Elliott

from Professor of Rock

Sometimes you ask a question, and there’s some mustard behind the answer. Today I talk with a legend who was riding as high as a band can in one moment, but then music got turned on its head, and this band, along with dozen’s of other,s were suddenly at a crossroads. Coming off one of the biggest albums ever, this band was in crisis going into a new decade… They lost two of their members. Their legendary guitarist and their so called 6th member, one of the greatest producers ever, as they gathered to put together their new record, all bets were that it was gonna be dark and brooding. That was certainly the mood, but instead this band put out a relentlessly upbeat album full of hard rock that was a pure adrenaline rush with a huge first single; the only problem was their timing was a bit off. Had this record come out even a year before, it would’ve been twice as big, but it dropped when GRUNGE had taken over the landscape and was threatening to take this band out. I pose the question decades later to their legendary frontman. What were you thinking when this musical movement that took out so many bands and threatened yours happened, and he spits a little fire my way… But his answer is priceless. Let’s do it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 26, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

When Grunge Hit: Def Leppard’s Comeback Story with Joe Elliott

0:00 21:19

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Professor of Rock?

This episode is 21 minutes long.

When was this Professor of Rock episode published?

This episode was published on January 26, 2026.

Can I download this Professor of Rock episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!