Def Leppard announce Vegas residency, drop blistering new track ‘Rejoice’
It’s the Sheffield rock group’s first original material in over a year, and every inch a live staple in the making.
Photo: Ross Halfin
Rejoice, indeed. One of the biggest and best rock acts of the last 50 years have returned with a kick-ass new single. Rejoice is Def Leppard’s first studio release since 2024’s stand-alone single Just Like 73, which featured Tom Morello on guitar. The blistering rock anthem follows news of a month-long Vegas residency at Caesar’s Palace, starting February 3rd.
Rejoice is every inch a latter-day Def Leppard single. As singer Joe Elliott muses, “It’s hard rock for us. It’s got a bit more of an ‘oomph’ than stuff we’ve been doing for a while.”
For a minute, Leppard ran the risk of following their ‘80s rock contemporaries — Jovi, Adams — putting out albums more diluted than the last. X, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge and 2015’s self-titled release had moments of excellence, but few and far between. Then came Diamond Star Halos, and the band were back on top form.
Rejoice, indeed, is in much the same vein; glitzy, ‘70s glam-inspired hair anthems for the modern day. Sonically, the track fits somewhere between Slang — the group’s 1996 experimental quasi-grunge release — and Euphoria. It’s a little more mainstream pop than Pyromania and Hysteria, but undeniably Leppard.
It’s not known if Rejoice will be part of an upcoming album — what would be their thirteenth after 2022’s Diamond Star Halos — or remain a standalone release. Either way, more Def Leppard is almost always a good thing, and it gives us another tune to learn and howl ahead of the group’s Vegas residency and upcoming European tour.
Rejoice is out now via Mercury Records.
