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Def Leppard kicks off new Las Vegas residency tonight; guitarist Phil Collen working on first solo album

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Def Leppard launches a new Las Vegas residency tonight at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. It’s the British rockers’ first U.S. performance since the band’s March 2019 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall in Brooklyn, New York.

The 12-show stand, dubbed “Def Leppard Hits Vegas: The Sin City Residency,” runs through September 7.

Def Leppard’s previous Vegas residency took place in 2013, and featured the band performing their entire 12-times-platinum 1987 album, Hysteria, while the new engagement will see the group focusing on the hits.

Guitarist Phil Collen tells ABC Radio that Def Leppard really enjoyed the Hysteria shows, and had wanted the new Vegas stand to also feature a full-album theme, but it wasn’t in the cards this time.

“We really wanted to do [1983’s] Pyromania [album], but the promoters and whoever was doing it said, ‘We want a greatest-hits set,'” Collen explains. “So, fine…we’ll do that another time.”

Following the Vegas residency, Def Leppard has one more U.S. show on its schedule: an October 12 headlining appearance at the Exit 111 festival in Manchester, Tennessee, which also will feature ZZ Top and Cheap Trick, among others.

Meanwhile, Collen tells ABC Radio that he’s working on his debut solo album. He says he’s been recording some “quite diverse stuff” for the project, including a track with respected jazz pianist Scott Wilkie.

“He just blows me away,” Collen says. “It’s like scary just watching him.”

In addition, Phil reveals that the album likely will include a new song by his alt-rock side project Manraze, which also features Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook. There’s no release date for the album yet.

Here are all of Def Leppard’s upcoming shows:

8/14, 16-17, 20, 23-24, 29, 31 — Las Vegas, NV, Zappos Theater
9/1, 4, 6-7 — Las Vegas, NV, Zappos Theater
10/12 — Manchester, TN, Exit 111 Festival

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