Def Leppard Postpone Winter Tour Due to Illness

Def Leppard postponed the remainder of their North American tour this month “due to illness,” the band’s official site announced Monday. The affected dates run from a February 2nd gig in San Antonio through their February 17th concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Def Leppard had previously also postponed a January 27th Greensboro concert and a January 30th Orlando show; however, the group performed January 29th in Fort Lauderdale before the trek, which also included Styx and Tesla, was ultimately postponed.

While the band didn’t elaborate on the “illness” postponing their tour, drummer Rick Allen turned to Twitter to tell fans, “The doctor basically said that if Joe [Elliott] continues to sing without resting his throat for a month he might do permanent damage.”

Elliott’s throat problems similarly plagued the Def Leppard Cruise, which ran from January 21st to 25th. By the event’s second day at sea, Elliott was unable to perform, forcing some of the cruise’s supporting artists – like Kip Winger and Mr. Big’s Eric Martin – as well as Def Leppard’s guitarists to handle vocal duties during a seven-song set, Fortune reports. “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever said onstage, but ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Def Leppard,” Elliott told the crowd. The singer also reportedly told fans he was suffering from severe laryngitis.

Former Dio bassist Jimmy Bain was also aboard the Def Leppard Cruise when he passed away January 24th, with Ultimate Classic Rock reporting that the cause of death was undiagnosed lung cancer.

“That he remained strong to his last breath is an amazing testament to his character,” Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, who played with Bain in Dio and Last in Line, wrote on Facebook. “Jimmy died with his boots on, doing what he loved to the end. The mighty ‘mab might have saved him, if only he’d known.”