I'm not aware of Joe saying anything from the stage, just on the DL website. If he did, that may not have been the best move. This might make sense if it were 1988, but it's not. Time to move on from this "controversy"...



04-Aug-08

Poison Drummer Challenges Def Leppard Singer To A Fight

Poison drummer Rikki Rockett has threatened Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott with a beatdown following Elliott's recent onstage outburst in which he reportedly called Rockett a "fucking idiot [who has] never seen a good band before."

In a brand new posting in the blog section of his MySpace page, Rockett writes, "For fuck's sake, Joe Elliott! Joe, king of the power mullet, at this point you need to shut the fuck up! No more talkin' shit. I'll give you a choice on how you go down. Arm bar, leg lock, shoulder lock, triangle, back choke or knock out. You pick! Let's get it on!"

Elliott recently hit back at Rockett and Poison singer Bret Michaels over their response to Elliott's comments at a June 6th press conference at the Sweden Rock Festival, in which Elliott said bands like Poison and Motley Crue had "no substance in their music" and therefore relied more on their image in the '80s. Rockett questioned Elliott's rock historian credentials in his posting, and wrote, "I'd be hurt if this were coming from John Lennon... So it takes about one minute and 45 seconds to put on eyeliner. I suppose during that same time you were writing the next 'Imagine'."

Michaels had already responded to Elliott's comments earlier, saying, "We have not sold out, and continuously, for 20 years every arena because we care about just our appearance. The music comes first." He then added, "(Def Leppard) shouldn't be knocking anyone about their music since they just did a show called 'Dancing With The Stars' in the U.S. and they got crucified because they fucking lip-synched the entire show, so before they bust anyone's balls, I've never lip-synched a fucking thing in my life — ever! It's the pot calling the kettle black."

In a July 18th message posted at Def Leppard's official web site, Elliott wrote, "I was simply making the following simple point when I said a lot of those Hollywood bands weren't 'real' (or whatever I said)... I was born Joseph Elliott, Sav was born Richard Savage, Rick was born Richard Allen, Phil was born Philip Collen, Viv was born Vivian Campbell, and oh, Steve was born Stephen Clark. I don't think anyone in POISON uses their real name, do they? And I could name hundreds of others who don't, but POISON came to mind because I was asked about them! It's nothing personal, it was just an answer to a question. . . Hey... Rikki implies we're miming on tour?! HA!!! Well, he's welcome to come see us anytime he wants... Obviously not used to hearing a good band very often then, is he??"