A few days after adding classic rock outfit Chicago to the BMO Pavilion lineup, Summerfest on Thursday stayed in a similar vein by announcing that Def Leppard will headline the American Family Insurance Amphitheater on June 19, with support from Tesla.
The legacy-rock show is the fourth Amp slot now spoken for, following the previous reveals of James Taylor on June 21, Lainey Wilson on June 26 and Megan Thee Stallion on June 28.
Def Leppard enjoyed a packed house the last time they were in Milwaukee as part of a 2022 co-headlining tour with Mötley Crüe (who themselves played Summerfest in 2024). The Journal Sentinel’s Piet Levy came away impressed by the performance and noted that one of the biggest members of the ’80s hair metal scene is “still in terrific form.”
Granted, those words were written more than two years ago. But it’s hard not to be swayed by Levy’s descriptions of dazzling guitar, “beastly” (in a good way) drums and frontman Joe Elliott winning “best vocals of the night.”
When Def Leppard plays the opening night of next year’s Summerfest, they’ll be nearly 50 years removed from their first year as a band, with a handful of original members forming Atomic Mass in 1976. Elliott joined the next year, and the group’s name flipped to Def Leppard shortly thereafter.
In the decades since, they’ve released 12 studio albums and enjoyed their biggest success with a run of LPs starting with 1983’s Pyromania that featured indelible hits like “Photograph” and “Rock of Ages.” Their next two releases both climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — Hysteria in 1987 and Adrenalize in 1992. The former contains some of their most recognizable songs: “Rocket,” “Love Bites,” “Armageddon It” and, of course, “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”
Tickets for the Def Leppard show with special guest Tesla on June 19 will go on sale at 10 a.m. next Wednesday, Dec. 18, online and at the amphitheater box office.
