Def Leppard confirms GHIV appearance

Last week, rumors surfaced by way of Guitar Hero fan site GuitarHeroNews.com that '80s pop rock staple Def Leppard would at long last bring the rock for the next installment in Activision's highly lucrative rhythm game franchise. The news purportedly came by way of Rockline Radio's live interview with Def Leppard, wherein guitarist Phil Collen said "Photograph," "Animal," and "Rock of Ages" will appear in Guitar Hero IV. However, the report couldn't be completely verified, as Rockline could not rebroadcast the show, which it typically does, as it contained unreleased music from Def Leppard's upcoming studio album.

However, last night, Rockline sent word that it had updated its Web site with an extracted audio clip from the Def Leppard interview in which Collen definitively states the band will be included in the next installment in Activision's Guitar Hero series. "We do!" Collen says, continuing, "It's on Guitar Hero IV. We just had to clear a few things like publishing, record company, and all that stuff. But we're going to have, like, three songs, I think, on Guitar Hero IV."

There's also little wiggle room on which edition of the game the band was referring to. Responding to the host's question, "So it is coming out? [GH3] is already out," Collen says, "No, it is coming out, it would have been out earlier, but we didn't get around to it." Collen then reaffirmed which songs would be included in the game, saying, "Yeah, I think Photograph, Animal, and Rock of Ages...something like that, yeah."

Unfortunately, as of press time, neither Activision nor RedOctane have been willing to confirm Def Leppard's statement. However, the publisher was similarly mum when Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry revealed to Billboard.com that the publisher was at work on a Guitar Hero spin-off devoted to his band.