Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott Has Playlist for His Funeral Picked Out
Like a lot of other people, Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott has given some thought to the songs he'd like playing at his funeral — and his picks probably won't come as much of a surprise to longtime fans familiar with Elliott's main musical influences.
"I've already written it into my will," Elliott told Kylie Olsson during his appearance on the premiere episode of her Music and Me podcast. "I want 'Anthem' by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, 'All the Young Dudes,' of course, by Mott the Hoople — and probably 'Rest in Peace' by Mott the Hoople. An obvious choice, but it's just a great song."
Joking that he might just record his own cover of the latter song and "play my own funeral" by having his version used during the service, Elliott added that he definitely doesn't plan to make the event an entirely somber affair. While he mentioned not wanting to have the Monty Python song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" playing — "It's been done" — Elliott said he'd eventually settle on something meant to bring a few smiles to those in attendance.
"I will probably throw in some ironic song that will make the ones that are sniffling burst into laughter. I've got to throw something mad in there; I don't know what it is yet," said Elliott. "But 'Dudes' and 'Anthem,' because they're grand and they sound like … Well, 'Dudes' doesn't sound like a death march, but 'Anthem' by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band has got the drum roll and the piano and then the bagpipes come in and take you out. It's almost like a New Year's Eve song; it's very Scottish. And it sounds like a great song to see my ashes blow off into the distance — hopefully in quite a few years' time."