Print - Interview - Joe - This is Money - 5Jan2019
Jan 5, 2019 15:37:32 GMT -8
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'When we signed our first record deal we also took out a pension!': Def Leppard's lead singer Joe Elliott on his worst and best money decisions
By Donna Ferguson For Mail On Sunday
Published: 17:16 EST, 5 January 2019
It took Joe Elliott ten years to make serious money from being lead singer of rock band Def Leppard. Elliott used to sit in a pub with the other band members, sipping a single pint of beer between them because they were so hard-up.
The singer-songwriter grew up in a terraced house in Sheffield and left school to work in a local steel factory for £8 a week.
He remembers signing his first record deal as a teenager with his feet up on the boardroom table of the record company, sipping whisky and smoking cigars.
Even though Def Leppard sold millions of records in the 1980s and 1990s, he earned more from touring the world with the band last year. Now 59, he lives on the outskirts of Dublin with wife Kristine, 46, son Finlay, nine, and two-year-old daughter Lyla.
Def Leppard's latest album, The Story So Far – The Best Of, is out now. The band headlines the Download festival in June. Concert tickets are on sale at downloadfestival.co.uk.
What did your parents teach you about money?
That there was not much. I was born in a two-up, two-down terraced house with an outside toilet. We did not have an indoor bathroom until I was ten and we got our first phone a year later. My father was an electrical engineer and mechanic – he fitted car radios – and mother was a nurse. They never gave me cash. I had to earn it and that taught me the value of money.
What was the first paid work you ever did?
Working at a steel factory, Osborn-Mushet Tools, in Sheffield, at age 15. I was taken on as an apprentice for £8 a week and ended up the chief buyer at 17. I would buy everything the factory needed, from soap in the bathroom to stationery and overalls. Then I got fired for playing cricket in the basement stores and smashing a window with a Bakelite knob.
I was already part of Def Leppard by then and we were gigging at night. Somehow I negotiated £500 as a redundancy settlement and I used it to buy a PA system for the band. I then got a job the next day as a driver for an ironmonger. That came in handy, too, because I used the van to go gigging.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
Of course. In 1978, we were all living with our parents, working during the day for £10 or £15 a week, and gigging at night. We had to buy guitars on credit and 'borrow' things. Sometimes, at the end of a long day, we would buy one pint and sip from four straws so we could afford the bus fare home.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
No. Once the band became successful, there was a lot of money going through the system. It was never like winning the lottery though. It was fair and reasonable for what we, as a band, put in.
We did not see a great deal of money until the autumn of 1983 when we got a cheque for the Pyromania album and tour. By then, even though we had sold six million records, we had a seven-year debt with the record label to clear.
Of course, when we did get that cheque, it was the biggest I had ever seen. I cannot remember exactly how much it was for but it was more than £20,000 – the equivalent of £65,000 today. But because of our debts, we did not see any real money until 1988 when Hysteria shifted 12 million copies worldwide.
What was the best year of your financial life?
Possibly 1998, maybe 1992 when we released Adrenalize but actually I expect it will be last year. We did 50 shows in the United States and blasted through Japan, Australia and New Zealand – all sell-outs. I am not going to brag about how much I earned last year, but I am not penniless.
What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?
I do not waste money on stupid stuff. I did spend $8,000 on a Les Paul guitar once because I had it covered in diamante. But I did not do that for fun, I did that because it would make the guitar unique.
What is your biggest money mistake?
Investing in a sports bar in Sheffield 20 years ago. It was a money pit and I lost £100,000.
The best money decision you have made?
Investing £500,000 in building my own recording studio. It has saved millions of pounds in costs over the years.
Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?
I do not invest in the stock market – it is a roulette wheel I do not want to play. I would rather buy a house and rent it out. I prefer bricks and mortar. I do have a pension. When we signed our first record deal when I was 18, we had a lawyer who made sure we started a pension that same day. We had our feet up on the boardroom table, drinking whisky, smoking cigars and I remember saying: 'What, a pension? Hang on, we are not even 20 years old.' Personally, I forgot all about it until told I could take it out at 55. But I have not touched it because I do not need it.
Do you own any property?
Yes. My home is a three-bedroom house with a granny flat annexe and a two-car garage with three acres of land, hidden away on the outskirts of Dublin. It has got my studio in it and I own it outright. I paid 450,000 Irish pounds for it in 1988, which is the equivalent of paying £950,000 sterling for a property today. I have never had it valued, but to me it is worth millions.
If Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the first thing you would do?
Resign. I would not have a clue. If I had to stay in the post, I would ask everybody to fill in a form saying where they think half of their taxes should go. You could tick: schools, hospitals, entertainment, army, navy, police force, road preservation, whatever. It would be like voting. Wherever you want half your tax money to go, that is where it would end up.
What is your number one financial priority?
Looking after my family. I want my kids to be level-headed and not spoilt. Should they ever need money in an emergency, I want to be able to say: 'Fine, not a problem, here is my chequebook – just do it.'
Source
By Donna Ferguson For Mail On Sunday
Published: 17:16 EST, 5 January 2019
It took Joe Elliott ten years to make serious money from being lead singer of rock band Def Leppard. Elliott used to sit in a pub with the other band members, sipping a single pint of beer between them because they were so hard-up.
The singer-songwriter grew up in a terraced house in Sheffield and left school to work in a local steel factory for £8 a week.
He remembers signing his first record deal as a teenager with his feet up on the boardroom table of the record company, sipping whisky and smoking cigars.
Even though Def Leppard sold millions of records in the 1980s and 1990s, he earned more from touring the world with the band last year. Now 59, he lives on the outskirts of Dublin with wife Kristine, 46, son Finlay, nine, and two-year-old daughter Lyla.
Def Leppard's latest album, The Story So Far – The Best Of, is out now. The band headlines the Download festival in June. Concert tickets are on sale at downloadfestival.co.uk.
What did your parents teach you about money?
That there was not much. I was born in a two-up, two-down terraced house with an outside toilet. We did not have an indoor bathroom until I was ten and we got our first phone a year later. My father was an electrical engineer and mechanic – he fitted car radios – and mother was a nurse. They never gave me cash. I had to earn it and that taught me the value of money.
What was the first paid work you ever did?
Working at a steel factory, Osborn-Mushet Tools, in Sheffield, at age 15. I was taken on as an apprentice for £8 a week and ended up the chief buyer at 17. I would buy everything the factory needed, from soap in the bathroom to stationery and overalls. Then I got fired for playing cricket in the basement stores and smashing a window with a Bakelite knob.
I was already part of Def Leppard by then and we were gigging at night. Somehow I negotiated £500 as a redundancy settlement and I used it to buy a PA system for the band. I then got a job the next day as a driver for an ironmonger. That came in handy, too, because I used the van to go gigging.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
Of course. In 1978, we were all living with our parents, working during the day for £10 or £15 a week, and gigging at night. We had to buy guitars on credit and 'borrow' things. Sometimes, at the end of a long day, we would buy one pint and sip from four straws so we could afford the bus fare home.
Have you ever been paid silly money?
No. Once the band became successful, there was a lot of money going through the system. It was never like winning the lottery though. It was fair and reasonable for what we, as a band, put in.
We did not see a great deal of money until the autumn of 1983 when we got a cheque for the Pyromania album and tour. By then, even though we had sold six million records, we had a seven-year debt with the record label to clear.
Of course, when we did get that cheque, it was the biggest I had ever seen. I cannot remember exactly how much it was for but it was more than £20,000 – the equivalent of £65,000 today. But because of our debts, we did not see any real money until 1988 when Hysteria shifted 12 million copies worldwide.
What was the best year of your financial life?
Possibly 1998, maybe 1992 when we released Adrenalize but actually I expect it will be last year. We did 50 shows in the United States and blasted through Japan, Australia and New Zealand – all sell-outs. I am not going to brag about how much I earned last year, but I am not penniless.
What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?
I do not waste money on stupid stuff. I did spend $8,000 on a Les Paul guitar once because I had it covered in diamante. But I did not do that for fun, I did that because it would make the guitar unique.
What is your biggest money mistake?
Investing in a sports bar in Sheffield 20 years ago. It was a money pit and I lost £100,000.
The best money decision you have made?
Investing £500,000 in building my own recording studio. It has saved millions of pounds in costs over the years.
Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?
I do not invest in the stock market – it is a roulette wheel I do not want to play. I would rather buy a house and rent it out. I prefer bricks and mortar. I do have a pension. When we signed our first record deal when I was 18, we had a lawyer who made sure we started a pension that same day. We had our feet up on the boardroom table, drinking whisky, smoking cigars and I remember saying: 'What, a pension? Hang on, we are not even 20 years old.' Personally, I forgot all about it until told I could take it out at 55. But I have not touched it because I do not need it.
Do you own any property?
Yes. My home is a three-bedroom house with a granny flat annexe and a two-car garage with three acres of land, hidden away on the outskirts of Dublin. It has got my studio in it and I own it outright. I paid 450,000 Irish pounds for it in 1988, which is the equivalent of paying £950,000 sterling for a property today. I have never had it valued, but to me it is worth millions.
If Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the first thing you would do?
Resign. I would not have a clue. If I had to stay in the post, I would ask everybody to fill in a form saying where they think half of their taxes should go. You could tick: schools, hospitals, entertainment, army, navy, police force, road preservation, whatever. It would be like voting. Wherever you want half your tax money to go, that is where it would end up.
What is your number one financial priority?
Looking after my family. I want my kids to be level-headed and not spoilt. Should they ever need money in an emergency, I want to be able to say: 'Fine, not a problem, here is my chequebook – just do it.'
Source
