Thursday, 19th May 2022
Prev  |  Next

DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT/PHIL COLLEN On Mike Garson's DIAMOND STAR HALOS Piano Playing

Def Leppard 2022. Def Leppard 2022

Def Leppard members Joe Elliott and Phil Collen have been interviewed about the Diamond Star Halos album and mentioned working with pianist Mike Garson.

'Diamond Star Halos' is the band's 12th studio album.

As announced on 17th March it will be released on Friday 27th May 2022.

Joe and Phil appeared live on Talkshoplive's The Rock N Roll Channel with host Steve Harkins at 7pm ET/12am UK last night to talk about the new 'Diamond Star Halos' album.

Joe and Phil (but mostly Joe...) talked about making the album, the Diamond Star Halos album title, 70s musical influence, remote recording, album songs, Rick Allen's accident/recovery, Phil's Deep Purple gig story, Mick Ronson, The Stadium tour and going back on tour.

Watch the 1 hour 12 minute video interview via the link below.


Mike Garson Guest Piano

Joe and Phil explained they have been huge fans of Mike's work.

Piano Style

Joe described Mike's style of playing as - "Avant Garde nutbag bonkers f**king jazz.". So there you have it...

Phil describes Mike's playing as "mindblowing".

Different Versions

Joe explained the band asked Mike to record three different versions of his songs which explains the "Avant Garde" version on the Deluxe Edition.


Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).


Joe Elliott/Phil Collen/TalkshopLive - May 2022 Interview Quotes - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Mike Garson Piano Parts/Angels/Goodbye For Good This Time

Joe Elliott - "And like you mentioned in Angels and Goodbye For Good. I sit at the piano trying to write another Life On Mars. Or another Quicksand or another whatever you know."

Joe Elliott - "And then when we get the album finished it's like well OK who's gonna play the actual piano. I'd been working with Mike Garson or the last four years on David Bowie memorial shows at every birthday since five years ago. I'd done something with Mike Garson you know."

Joe Elliott - "So I'd got a good relationship with Mike. And I said to Phil - who we both discovered Garson at the same time when we bought Aladdin Sane. And you listen to what he does on Let's Spend The Night Together."

Joe Elliott - "You compare Bowie's version and listen to the piano compared to The Stones's version. That's what Garson does. Avant Garde nutbag bonkers f**king jazz."

Joe Elliott - "How could it possibly go wrong on a Def Leppard record?. But I said will you play on a couple of Leppard songs?. And he went yes!."

Joe Elliott - "So we sent him the MP3's and he went leave them with me for a couple of days. And then he sent roughs back and straight away this is what he's come up with and we were both like."

Phil Collen - "Mindblowing."

Joe Elliott - "The colour that he added to them. You know I was very like Lennon would have been on Imagine. Just standard piano stuff which there's nothing wrong with that."

Joe Elliott - "But the colour that he added was better than what I could do. And so more than happy to have Mike do it. And god bless him because he jumped at it you know."

Joe Elliott - "Again like Alison with her two songs, what Mike did was expand what we'd done. And for the overall big picture of the album it's really branched out that record, Diamond Star Halos, for us."

Joe Elliott - "We think it's a quantum leap from a musical point of view to just about anything we've ever done before."


Acoustic Solo On Angels (Can't Help You Now)

Phil Collen - "And the acoustic solo on that. I actually - it was a tribute to Mick Ronson on Lady Grinning Soul. Which he played with Mike Garson obviously. So yeah I kind of done a Nylon strung."

Phil Collen - "Joe was like it would be great with an acoustic. And it's like I know exactly what I'm gonna do on that."

Phil Collen - "And it just, straight off the bat, it was like pretty obvious."

Joe Elliott - "'Cause we were on the same page 6,000 miles apart. And we grew up with this stuff. So again Diamond Star Halos is a reference to a certain era or a certain type of lyric."

Joe Elliott - "And just by going Lady Grinning Soul. I went yeah, yes perfect. And we would do this to each other."

Joe Elliott - "It was kind of like...finish off each other's sentences."

Phil Collen - "Finish off the sentences."


Different Versions With Mike Garson

Joe Elliott - "We did give him a kind of a game plan. We said here's the thing Mike. Do a real conservative version. A better version of mine. Do a middle ground one and then do Mike Garson."

Joe Elliott - "So we can cut between the three takes. And if you listen to both of those songs towards the end you hear him go oh here he comes you know."

Joe Elliott - "Little flourishes and especially the ending with the spin off echoey piano. We wanted it to have that like this is unusual it's never featured before on a Leppard record but now is the time."


Expanding The Band's Sound/Musical History

Joe Elliott - "You've got to realise that we're also aware of the fact that anybody that came on board that's still on board with us. Pyromania is 39 years ago. Hysteria is 35 years ago. If you're still here you're on a journey."

Joe Elliott - "We're all a little older than we were. And it's good to take a side step. And I think our audience are ready for a little bit of 'this is different'."

Joe Elliott - "There's some stuff on there that is absolutely classic Leppard. That doesn't veer too far from what we've done in the past."

Joe Elliott - "But it blends beautifully with the stuff that is new ground if you like. And we need to do this. We should have done it years ago."

Joe Elliott - "But we were afforded this opportunity in the most bizarre of circumstances and we just took - grabbed the bull by the horns and just took it for a ride."


View the full video on the TalkshopLive website.


Def Leppard 2022.

Buy 'Diamond Star Halos' Online


Diamond Star Halos - Tracklisting

01 - Take What You Want - 4:14
02 - Kick - 3:42 - (Collen) - Amazon - (MP3)
03 - Fire It Up - 3:19
04 - This Guitar [feat. Alison Krauss] - 3:50
05 - SOS Emergency - 3:25
06 - Liquid Dust - 4:01
07 - U Rok Mi - 3:33
08 - Goodbye For Good This Time - 4:27
09 - All We Need - 4:46
10 - Open Your Eyes - 4:19
11 - Gimme A Kiss - 3:12
12 - Angels (Can’t Help You Now) - 4:57
13 - Lifeless [feat. Alison Krauss] - 4:19 - (Collen/Elliott)
14 - Unbreakable - 3:46
15 - From Here To Eternity - 5:37


  • Producer - Def Leppard
  • Producer - Ronan McHugh
  • Total Time - 61mins
  • Release Date - 27th May 2022

Def Leppard 2022.

Diamond Star Halos (Deluxe) - Tracklisting

01 - Take What You Want - 4:14
02 - Kick - 3:42 - (Collen) - Amazon - (MP3)
03 - Fire It Up - 3:19
04 - This Guitar [feat. Alison Krauss] - 3:50
05 - SOS Emergency - 3:25
06 - Liquid Dust - 4:01
07 - U Rok Mi - 3:33
08 - Goodbye For Good This Time - 4:27
09 - All We Need - 4:46
10 - Open Your Eyes - 4:19
11 - Gimme A Kiss - 3:12
12 - Angels (Can’t Help You Now) - 4:57
13 - Lifeless [feat. Alison Krauss] - 4:19 - (Collen/Elliott)
14 - Unbreakable - 3:46
15 - From Here To Eternity - 5:37

16 - Goodbye For Good This Time (Avant-Garde Mix)

17 - Lifeless (Joe Only version)


  • Producer - Def Leppard
  • Producer - Ronan McHugh
  • Release Date - 27th May 2022

Def Leppard / Latest Tour

Def Leppard World Tour 2022


Related News - DEF LEPPARD DIAMOND STAR HALOS Rockpages Album Review

Related News - DEF LEPPARD DIAMOND STAR HALOS Album Countdown (7 Days To Go)

Related News - DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT/PHIL COLLEN On THIS GUITAR/LIFELESS/ALISON KRAUSS Vocals

Related News - DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT/PHIL COLLEN On DIAMOND STAR HALOS Album Concept/Sessions

Related News - DEF LEPPARD's JOE ELLIOTT/PHIL COLLEN On TAKE WHAT YOU WANT/KICK/Next Single

Related News - DEF LEPPARD's VIVIAN CAMPBELL On DIAMOND STAR HALOS Perfect Title/Joyous Recording


share this story:





get def leppard news

Stay in touch with the latest updates.


explore def leppard tour history
All News
Tour News
Album News
All Tours