DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT Says He Knew MÖTLEY CRÜE's Retirement Wouldn't Last

DEF LEPPARD singer Joe Elliott says that he knew MÖTLEY CRÜE would eventually renege on its 2014 "cessation of touring" contract. "Five years ago, I kind of sniggered into my cup of coffee, like, 'Yeah, right.'" Elliott recalled in a new interview with Rolling Stone. "I told Nikki [Sixx, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] that when he signed it, 'You guys are just Bowie, Sinatra, Cher, all rolled into one.' It's theater. And those guys are theatrical. Contracts are there to be torn up. That's what they are. People break them all the time in sports. Why can't you break one in music?"

He continued: "Look, they weren't getting on. They didn't like each other. They were on the road too much. They were going through personal issues with each other. They have come to realize, after five years apart, that if they had just paced it differently, like we do, maybe things would have been a bit different for them. But we all get to the end game different ways. We got to ours by sticking together and pacing it a certain way. They got to their end game — if it is even the end — by going away and coming back with a big bang. We never had the benefit of a big bang because we never went away. Everybody has their own different story, but unless you go down in a plane crash, nothing is ever that final."

Asked if DEF LEPPARD would ever do a farewell tour the way MÖTLEY CRÜE did, Joe said: "Yeah. Listen, the key phrase that was popping up at the press conference [announcing the CRÜE's 2020 tour with DEF LEPPARD] was Mick Mars saying, 'You never say never.' One day, something will end up being our last tour. Will we announce it, or will it just actually be our last tour because we just decide not to do it anymore and after the fact it turns into the farewell tour? I don't know. Those are the kinds of things we're not making any plans for. And even if we did, we'd probably end up tearing up the contract just like MÖTLEY CRÜE did. [Laugh]

"I'm a bit more pragmatic when it comes to that kind of thing. I'm a realist and I know that sooner or later, it will come to an end. Whether it comes to an end as planned, a year and a half before the first tour, sounds a little far-fetched to me at the moment. But things happen. And nobody knows that more than we do. We didn't plan on firing [guitarist] Pete Willis. We didn't plan on Rick [Allen] losing his arm. And we didn't plan on Steve [Clark] losing his life. But it happened. And we had to adjust to those situations and move on the best we could."

Pressed about whether any part of him thought it was wrong of MÖTLEY CRÜE to go back on that contract, Joe said: "No. This is not a divorce where you're cheating on your wife. That, to me, would be wrong. If the president of a country or the ruling government of a democracy said one thing and then did another, that's wrong, because it's real and affects people's lives. This is rock and roll. Lighten up. It's four guys that had enough of each other for a while and after five years, they've fallen back in love again. Fucking get on with it. I'm happy for them. It's great for them — and us as well."

CRÜE will team up with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS for a 22-date North American stadium tour next summer. "The Stadium Tour" kicks off July 7 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium and winds down on September 5 at Los Angeles's SoFi Stadium. Tickets go on sale on December 13 at 10:00 a.m.

The trek marks CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. The band toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

"The Stadium Tour" was announced on Wednesday at a Hollywood event hosted on SiriusXM's Volume channel by Slim Jim Phantom of THE STRAY CATS.