Watch Def Leppard’s Special YouTube Concert

After teasing it for the past week, Def Leppard made good Thursday afternoon with a full video performance and Q&A session for fans via their YouTube channel.

The timing was perfect for the band. They play a prominent role in the upcoming film ‘Rock of Ages‘ (due June 15) and have re-recorded versions of two songs for the film. Plus they have a full-on tour with Poison and Lita Ford that launches on June 20 in Salt Lake City.

The performance portion was taped Wednesday (June 6) at Los Angeles’ House of Blues in front of an intimate audience. Their seven-song set includes such favorites as the newly recorded ‘Rock of Ages’ and ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,’ the latter of which featured a consensus arm hoisting from the audience.

Other favorites performed during the set included ‘Foolin,’ ‘Animal,’ ‘Hysteria,’ ‘Let it Go,’ and ‘Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.’ Singer Joe Elliott pointed out that this year marks the 25th anniversary for the ‘Hysteria’ album before breaking into the title track. ‘Let it Go’ also featured a blistering solo from guitarist Phil Collen.

During the question and answer portion, Joe Elliott revealed that the band had been asked to license their music “seven or eight times before,” and always said no because the project wasn’t right. But the singer admitted that once they were asked to contribute the track to something that had a bit of a successful history … oh and it had Tom Cruise in it too … the ‘Rock of Ages’ theatrical release ended up being that right project to get them to sign off on the usage.

Watch Def Leppard’s Performance

Watch Def Leppard’s Q&A Session