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  • Def Leppard Guitarist Calls Trump a Clown

    Def Leppard Guitarist Calls Trump a Clown

    Def Leppard is on tour. Last week we reported that the band will have the dubious honor of being introduced at one of their shows by none other than Donald Trump. Trump will probably be fine with it. None of the members of Def Leppard were ever in a POW camp.

    But how do the members of Def Leppard feel about it?

    Trump was announced to be slated to introduce the band at the Iowa State Fair next month. The band shares a bill with Styx and Tesla at the State Fair Grandstand on the fairgrounds in Des Moines on August 15.

    Odd part is, it seems the folks running the event had never even heard about Trump’s intended appearance.

    “That has not yet been confirmed by our music staff,” a rep for the fair said. “I would say the fair currently has no knowledge of Trump’s appearing on August 15.”

    Now, Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has posted his opinion about the whole thing on his Facebook page.

    “I really, really, really hope that there’s no truth to this rumour,” Campbell said of the Trump introduction. “Def Leppard have never been a political band, and if we were, I for one wouldn’t be associating my name with this clown.”

    While most of Campbell’s followers on Facebook seemed to share his opinion of Trump, there were some for whom this was unacceptable. These folks expressed their displeasure in the most illiterate way they could summon.

    “well drf lep.. i can honastly you can “go fuck your self !!!! you say your not a political band ?? right there you just him a clown !! thats an opinion !!!! which put you in the non donald side of this.. thats being a stupid libtard !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh by the way im burning all my def leppard albums ..cd’s…and all the tickets i save from you concert !!! and some t-shirts ive had for allmost 19 years..”

    “Vivian, I’m disappointed that your liberal. I thought you had class. I guess you are a poser. You should be defending Americans rights. Not backing the party that opposed civil rights.”

    “Clowns are the politicians ruining the country. Clowns blindly support Hilary and that community disorganizer Obama !
    Some of us love the band but love our country and heritage and take offense to calling out a person that is finally speaking the truth. Trump is speaking for many on this country. Now everyone says no politics , it ruins the music side of life! Well you have proven yourself a liberal by you present and past comments. Not all of us agree with that mental diseased way of thought”

    As for Donald Trump, Def Leppard would not be his first brush with rock and roll. On his Celebrity Apprentice program, Trump rubbed elbows with the likes of Gene Simmons, Bret Michaels, famous band manager Sharon Osbourne, Meat Loaf, and Dee Snider.

  • Def Leppard Guitarist’s Cancer Relapse Casts Shadow Over Tour

    Def Leppard just launched a US tour sure to satisfy die-hard fans. That fun got a blow yesterday when guitarist Vivian Campbell announced that his Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is back.

    “I’m saddened by the fact that my cancer has returned,” Campbell told Def Leppard fans. “However, I’m beyond consolation that its return will prevent me from being able to do my job for a while. I’m still working on a schedule of treatment with my doctors, but I will see you all very soon.

    “My apologies.”

    Campbell has fought Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for years. He missed out on Def Leppard’s last tour for the same reason. His slot was filled by Trixter’s Steve Brown, who will carry his banner again on this tour.

    In November, 2013, the Def Leppard guitarist told fans that his earlier relapse had shocked him.

    “For anyone who knew anything about cancer, they’d probably say, ‘Well, that’s not unusual,’” says Campbell. “But I didn’t. I got my diagnosis in the spring of 2013 when we were doing the Las Vegas residency with Def Leppard. And as soon as we were done with that, I started six months of chemo.”

    “And I just kind of naturally assumed you do the chemo, you do a scan at the end of the chemo and it shows that you’re good, and that’s it. But apparently not. It was, like, ninety-something percent gone, and it was what they couldn’t see on the scan that came creeping back. And it came back so fast.”

    Back in January, Campbell was cautiously optimistic as Def Leppard geared up for the tour.

    “Well, I seem to be in a good spot at the moment. You can never be too certain with these things, ’cause they can come creeping back. But after three rounds of chemo over the last two years, I did a stem-cell transplant in October. And the first PET scan that I did on New Year’s Eve came back really, really good – there’s no sign of the tumors – so I’m hopeful that we’re on the right path. I mean, that’s certainly the way I’ve been thinking.”

    “I’m not letting it concern me at all. But continuing for the next few years, I’ll be doing more scans and follow-ups and stuff, just to make sure, but I’m certainly feeling healthy, you know?!”

    Def Leppard fans have given an outpouring of support to Campbell.

    I'm saddened by the fact that my cancer has returned. However, I'm beyond consolation that it's return will prevent me…

    Posted by Vivian Campbell on Friday, June 19, 2015

  • Def Leppard to Tour; Guitarist Still Fighting Cancer

    Def Leppard is heading back out on the road again. For some reason, it has been big news today that Def Leppard is playing a gig at a state fair in Minnesota alongside acts like Alan Jackson, Styx, The Turtles, and Tesla.

    Now Styx has been doing the package lineup tour thing for a while. They have done triple bills with acts like Kansas, Journey, John Waite and others. But Def Leppard is now heading out into that good night by playing state fairs and package shows for aging divorcees, squeezed into their acid wash denim shorts and halter tops for the night — the divorcees, that it, not Def Leppard. Then, again.

    One huge challenge to the touring aspirations of Def Leppard is the fact that guitarist Vivian Campbell has cancer, specifically Hodgkins Lymphoma. Campbell was brought into the Def Leppard fold in 1992 to replace deceased guitarist Steve Clark. He had been with Dio and Whitesnake prior to that.

    Campbell talked with Eddie Trunk about his current situation.

    “Well, I seem to be in a good spot at the moment. You can never be too certain with these things, ’cause they can come creeping back. But after three rounds of chemo over the last two years, I did a stem-cell transplant in October. And the first PET scan that I did on New Year’s Eve came back really, really good – there’s no sign of the tumors – so I’m hopeful that we’re on the right path. I mean, that’s certainly the way I’ve been thinking.”

    “I’m not letting it concern me at all. But continuing for the next few years, I’ll be doing more scans and follow-ups and stuff, just to make sure, but I’m certainly feeling healthy, you know?!”

    Back in November, 2013, the Def Leppard guitarist had announced that his cancer was in remission. But it later returned.

    “For anyone who knew anything about cancer, they’d probably say, ‘Well, that’s not unusual,’” says Campbell. “But I didn’t. I got my diagnosis in the spring of 2013 when we were doing the Las Vegas residency with Def Leppard. And as soon as we were done with that, I started six months of chemo.”

    “And I just kind of naturally assumed you do the chemo, you do a scan at the end of the chemo and it shows that you’re good, and that’s it. But apparently not. It was, like, ninety-something percent gone, and it was what they couldn’t see on the scan that came creeping back. And it came back so fast.”

    Here’s hoping that Campbell and his Def Leppard bandmates stay healthy for the tour.

  • Def Leppard Divorce: Couple Splits After 25 Years

    Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell has filed for divorce from his wife Julie after 25 years of marriage, and is asking the judge not to make him pay spousal support, citing irreconcilable differences. They have two children together.

    Campbell, an Irish musician who played for Dio and Whitesnake before joining Def Leppard, took over guitarist duties after Steve Clark died in 1992. The band, which had found major success worldwide until then, suddenly began to falter due to the onset of the grunge movement and realized they were being phased out of the music scene. It wasn’t until an infamous “Behind The Music” episode on VH1 that they were brought back into the limelight, and the episode spawned a made-for-tv movie called “Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story”, which sent the band back into stardom. They went on to continued success with Campbell as their guitarist and are still touring.