Editing Joe Elliott

{{Short description|English rock singer (born 1959)}}
{{About|the lead singer of Def Leppard|other people named Joe Elliott|Joe Elliott (disambiguation)}}
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{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Joe Elliott
| image               = DefLappardO2061218-24 (49913647568) Cropped.jpg
| caption             = Elliott in 2018
| birth_name          = Joseph Thomas Elliott
| alias               = Zeff
| birth_date          = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1959|08|01}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yn_UitizMaMC&pg=PT16 |title=Def Leppard: Arena Rock Band |first=Laura S. |last=Jeffrey |publisher=[[Enslow Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-7660-3234-7 |year=2010 |page=16}}</ref>
|birth_place          = [[Sheffield]], England
|death_date           = 
| origin              =
| genre               = {{hlist|[[Glam metal]]|[[hard rock]]|[[heavy metal music|heavy metal]]|[[pop rock]]|}}
| occupation          = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|musician}}
| instrument          = {{hlist|Vocals|guitar|keyboards}}<!--- If you think an instrument should be listed, a discussion to reach consensus is needed first per: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Infobox_musical_artist#instrument---> 
| years_active        = 1975–present
| current_member_of   = {{hlist|[[Def Leppard]]|[[Down 'n' Outz]]}}
| past_member_of      = {{hlist|Atomic Mass|[[Cybernauts]]|[[Kings of Chaos (band)|Kings of Chaos]]}}
| website             = {{url|defleppard.com}}
}}

'''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]].<ref name="Noisecreep1">{{cite web |url=http://www.noisecreep.com/2010/06/14/def-leppard-frontman-launches-mott-the-hoople-cover-band/ |title=Def Leppard Frontman Launches Mott the Hoople Cover Band – Noisecreep |last=Wiederhorn |first=Jon |website=[[Noisecreep]] |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=17 June 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Standing the test of time |url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20170426/standing-test-of-time |newspaper=Tuscaloosa News |date=21 October 2017}}</ref>

== Early life and Def Leppard ==
Joseph Thomas Elliott was born in [[Sheffield]] to Joseph William Elliott (1930–2011) and Cynthia Gibson. He was educated at [[King Edward VII School, Sheffield|King Edward VII School]]. Elliott met [[Pete Willis]] (a member of a local band called [[List of Def Leppard band members|Atomic Mass]]) in November 1977 after missing a bus. Upon finding out that they were both musicians, Willis invited Elliott to meet the rest of the Atomic Mass members. The band spent hours talking and listening to records in Elliott's bedroom. Elliott tried out as a guitarist and, though the band had not heard Elliott sing, they were impressed by "his attitude and his ideas about being in a band" and he became the band's vocalist instead. The other members also took Elliott's suggestion to change their name to "Deaf Leopard." Elliott had invented the name for a band in his youth. Bandmate 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.<ref>Fricke, David. 1987. Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story. Zomba Books, London. {{ISBN|0-946391-55-6}}.</ref>

== Personal life ==
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 was born in 2009, and they are also parents to a daughter born in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-money-lifelessons-elliott-idUSKBN1K21AU |title=Rock of Ages: Life lessons with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott |date=12 July 2018 |website=Reuters.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deflepparduk.com/bandjoe.html |title=Def Leppard Band Member Joe Elliott (Lead Vocals) |website=Deflepparduk.com |quotation=Leppard Tour History}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mydefleppard.com/kristine.html |title=Kristine Elliott / My Def Leppard |website=Mydefleppard.com |date=1 May 1972 |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> He announced on SiriusXM in March 2022 that he and his wife Kristine had another daughter who was born in 2020.

Elliott previously co-owned a Sheffield sports bar with [[Tim Cranston]], a Canadian ice hockey player for the local [[Sheffield Steelers|Steelers]].<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/retro-stars-players-cafac-459558 | title =Retro: The stars of Players Café |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.-->| date =24 February 2016 | work=[[Sheffield Star]] | publisher =[[JPIMedia]] | access-date =6 September 2022}}</ref>

Elliott is a supporter of [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/def-leppard-sheffield-joe-elliott-on-his-love-for-tony-currie-why-sheffield-united-and-that-huge-bramall-lane-gig-4151559|title=Def Leppard Sheffield: Joe Elliott on his love for Tony Currie, why Sheffield United and that huge Bramall Lane gig|publisher=The Star|date=22 May 2023|accessdate=26 April 2025}}</ref>

== Controversies ==
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://michaelhutchenceandme.wordpress.com/tag/racial-slurs |title=Racial slurs &#124; Michael Hutchence and Me |access-date=16 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110122843/http://michaelhutchenceandme.wordpress.com/tag/racial-slurs/ |archive-date=10 November 2013}}</ref>

In 2010, Elliott criticised the British music press, which he accused of ignoring his band and narrowing popular taste: {{cquote|It's nice to walk down [[Oxford Street]] without being recognised but then again when music magazines write about us they take the piss because we're not as cool as [[Johnny Marr]], who isn't as successful as us by a million miles [...] Rock's ploughed its own furrow for 30 years but still music magazines don't give rock its due [...] How many more front covers do [[Paul McCartney]] and [[Morrissey]] need? Our album will sell more than [[Morrissey]]'s so why don't we get the same kind of respect?"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://metro.co.uk/2010/07/20/joe-elliot-def-leppard-dont-get-enough-respect-453310/ |title=Joe Elliot: Def Leppard don't get enough respect |work=Metro |date=20 July 2010 |access-date=2 April 2013}}</ref>}}

== Discography ==
[[File:Elliott and Campbell - Def Leppard.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Elliott with Def Leppard in 2005]]
;With Def Leppard
{{Main|Def Leppard discography}}
*''[[The Def Leppard E.P.]]'' (1979)
*''[[On Through the Night]]'' (1980)
*''[[High 'n' Dry]]'' (1981)
*''[[Pyromania (album)|Pyromania]]'' (1983)
*''[[Hysteria (Def Leppard album)|Hysteria]]'' (1987)
*''[[Adrenalize]]'' (1992)
*''[[Retro Active]]'' (1993)
*''[[Slang (album)|Slang]]'' (1996)
*''[[Euphoria (Def Leppard album)|Euphoria]]'' (1999)
*''[[X (Def Leppard album)|X]]'' (2002)
*''[[Yeah! (Def Leppard album)|Yeah!]]'' (2006)
*''[[Songs from the Sparkle Lounge]]'' (2008)
*''[[Mirrorball (Def Leppard album)|Mirrorball: Live And More]]'' (2011)
*''[[Viva! Hysteria]]'' (2013)
*''[[Def Leppard (album)|Def Leppard]]'' (2015)
*''[[The Story So Far – The Best Of]]'' (2018)
*''[[Diamond Star Halos]]'' (2022)
*''[[Drastic Symphonies]]'' (2023)

;With [[Down 'n' Outz]]
*''[[My ReGeneration]]'' (2010)
*''The Further Adventures Of...'' (2014)
*''The Further Live Adventures Of...'' (2017)
*''This Is How We Roll'' (2019)

;With [[Kings of Chaos (band)|Kings of Chaos]]
*''[[Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head]]'' – "[[Never Before (song)|Never Before]]" (2012)

;With [[Cybernauts]]
*''Cybernauts Live''

;With various artists : 
*''Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story'' – Vocals on "[[All The Young Dudes]]" and "This Is For You"

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commonscat}}
* [http://www.defleppard.com/the-band/joe-elliott Joe Elliott] at DefLeppard.com
* [https://planetradio.co.uk/planet-rock/shows/joe-elliott/ Joe Elliott on Planet Rock]

{{Def Leppard}}
{{2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Joe}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:20th-century English male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century English singers]]
[[Category:21st-century English male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century English singers]]
[[Category:Def Leppard members]]
[[Category:Down 'n' Outz members]]
[[Category:English expatriates in Ireland]]
[[Category:English heavy metal singers]]
[[Category:English male rock singers]]
[[Category:English tenors]]
[[Category:Hard rock singers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Sheffield]]
[[Category:People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield]]
[[Category:Cybernauts members]]
[[Category:Kings of Chaos (band) members]]