Joe Elliott says he's having vocal issues

The longtime Def Leppard vocalist says that in recent months, he's been having vocal problems. He says that when he became sick in 2016, he worked for five long months to try and save his voice. Def Leppard was forced to cancel some dates because of this particular issue

Fellow band mate, guitarist Vivian Campbell was quoted as saying that if he didn't stop performing, he could risk "irreparable damage" to his vocal cords. In an interview with The Express, Elliott mentioned "We did one of those rock cruises, and I had to pull out. I introduced the band and then watched from the side." Watching other singers fill in for him, he recalled "This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

From the same interview, he said "I took a five-day break thinking "This has always sorted me out in the past." It didn't have to cancel a tour. ...I had to take five months of working every single day for an hour or two with my vocal coach, who's also a shrink in many respects."

This coach had some strong positive, uplifting words for Elliott. He helped Elliott believe he could resolve the issues, but "it took a long, long, long time." The job description didn't include teaching Joe Elliott how to sing, but it did include how "not to use your voice."

Joe was warned that it might not work out, despite the fact the situation seemed to be resolving itself. "When I got pneumonia and I got the hundred-day cough, it totally destroyed my vocal cords, to the point where my throat doctor said to me "If you weren't you, I'd tell you to retire because this is never going to get better."" Thankfully it did work out. Elliott says "It's stronger than it used to be, best it's ever been."