How Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott Saved Queen’s Brian May From Burning Alive On Stage
April 1, 2019 12:25PM CDT
Def Leppard were officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday with a speech by Queen guitarist Brian May, who told the audience a story about how frontman Joe Elliot once saved his life.
May says Def Leppard was on their Pyromania tour when he joined them onstage for a cover of CCR’s “Travelin’ Band”. But May wasn’t familiar with the stage setup, which included a lot of pyrotechnics.
May was standing right over one of the flame pits playing a solo when Elliot shouted “Brian, Brian, the fire!” and dragged him out of the way just as a “huge sheath of flame comes up in front of me”.
But May says that’s not the only reason he admires Def Leppard, he also called them “a magnificent rock group” and “magnificent human beings”.