| Joe Elliott | |
| Birth Name: | Joseph Thomas Elliott |
| Alias: | Zeff |
| Birth Date: | 1959 8, df=yes[1] |
| Birth Place: | Sheffield, Yorkshire, England |
| Years Active: | 1975–present |
Joseph Thomas Elliott (born 1 August 1959) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute band the Cybernauts and the Mott the Hoople cover band Down 'n' Outz.[2] He is one of the two original members of Def Leppard still in the band and one of the three to perform on every Def Leppard album. Elliott is known for his distinctive and wide ranging raspy singing voice.[3]
Tony Kenning suggested they change the band name to "Def Leppard" to distinguish them from contemporary punk bands like The Flying Lizards and the Boomtown Rats. The band claims that any apparent similarity of the name Led Zeppelin to Def Leppard was unintentional.[4]
Elliott's first marriage was to Karla Ramdhani in 1989; they divorced in 1996. Elliott met Kristine Wunschel in 2003 while she was working on the crew for the X album tour, and they were married on 1 September 2004. Their first child, Finlay, was born in December 2009, and they are also parents to a daughter, Lyla, born July 2016.[5] [6] [7] He announced on SiriusXM in March 2022 that he and his wife Kristine had another daughter named Harper who was born in February 2020.
During a performance on 7 September 1983 in Tucson, Arizona, Elliott attempted to rile the crowd during the "Rock of Ages" crowd sing-along. He told the crowd: "Last night, we played in El Paso, that place with all the greasy Mexicans, and they made a lot more noise than that." Then, on 30 September, he apologised on an El Paso radio station for the racial slur he made while referring to the city on 7 September. The band later followed up the apology with donations to Hispanic charities.[8]
Elliott previously co-owned a Sheffield sports bar with Tim Cranston, a Canadian ice hockey player for the local Steelers.[9]
In 2010, Elliott criticised the British music press, which he accused of ignoring his band and narrowing popular taste:
Before a July 2019 show in Hamilton, Ontario, Elliott was recorded on video saying that the city's FirstOntario Centre "stinks like 10,000 asses". The video surfaced in January 2020.[10]
See main article: Def Leppard discography.