DEF LEPPARD’S PHIL COLLEN ALMOST JOINED IRON MAIDEN?!?!

On several occasions I’ve heard someone refer to Def Leppard as part of the British New Wave of Heavy Metal, and that band’s inclusion into the genre never made sense to me; it’s not that I don’t enjoy vintage Def Lep (for better or worse, I do enjoy it, very much so), but uttering the words “Def Leppard” in the same breath as “Judas Priest” or “Iron Maiden” just seems… wrong.

Well, I guess the fellas in Iron Maiden disagree with me. Maybe this is old news, but in a recent interview with Inside Out, the Def Lep guitarist discusses how he almost ended up battling giant Eddies on stage:

Inside Out: Tell us about your brush with Iron Maiden, I believe that if Adrian Smith never joined the band, you were next in line for the job!

Collen: They asked me to come down and I wasn’t really interested. I have known them guys for years. I used to go to school with the original singer Paul Di’Anno, who I have known since I was six. All the guys grew up in the same area as me, they’re lovely guys, I love ’em, but it’s a different type of music. I was in a glam rock band and now I’m in Def Leppard… which is more up my street.

I’m trying to imagine Collen leaning up against Bruce Dickinson, tearing through “Run to the Hills,” or Dickinson singing some variation of “Pour Some Sugar on Me”… but somehow, it just doesn’t compute.

-AR

[via Blabbermouth]