The English rock band Def Leppard, which has already been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, added a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to its list of honors Thursday, recognizing a career that includes two of the best-selling albums of all time, "Pyromania" and "Hysteria."
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"So from all of us up here ... just simply to our incredible, loving fan base out there, two words -- thank you," lead vocalist Joe Elliott told the cheering crowd assembled for the event.
Elliott was joined in speaking at the ceremony in front of the Capitol Records building by Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Resnikoff, president & CEO of Universal Music Enterprises.
"We hit it off immediately," Bon Jovi recalled of first meeting the band. "Hanging out with Joe and the guys felt like hanging with my own band, but with a different accent. We stayed in touch, and as they went on to record `Hysteria' and we recorded `New Jersey,' it was the MTV era, what we refer to as the Gold Rush. Now, there have been many a long night in various cities after each other's shows, and many celebrations, fun times and laughs and even the heartbreaks and loss."
The star is the 2,824th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
The ceremony came two days before the band's concert at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary, Indiana. The band will perform in residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from Feb. 3-28.
Def Leppard will begin a six-nation European tour June 13 at Rattvik, Sweden that will also take them to Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Formed in Sheffield in 1977, the band released the first of its 12 studio albums, "On Through the Night," in 1980. It reached the Top 15 in the United Kingdom.
Its third album, `Pyromania, released in 1983, reached second on the U.S. charts. Its next album, "Hysteria." topped the charts in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand.
Its fifth album, "Adrenalize," released in 1992, topped the charts in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand.
The band is also known for its stability. Elliott and bass guitarist Rick Savage have been members since its formation, while drummer Rick Allen joined a year later. Guitarists Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell have been members since 1982.
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