Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott Duets with Tobias Forge on Ghost Song “Spillways”

Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott has joined Ghost frontman, Tobias Forge, for a new version of “Spillways.”

Dueting on “Spillways,” originally released on Ghost’s 2022 album, Impera, Elliot, and Forge alternate on verses. The reimagined version will appear on the newest installment in Ghost’s long-running series of webisodes Chapter 15: Meanwhile in Dublin, and feature a video of Elliott singing “Spillways” in a Dublin pub.

In 2022, Forge initially admitted that he was trying to channel some of Def Leppard on Impera. “I think they were great,” said Forge. “Going into this record, I thought I would see if I could do it a little more like Def Leppard did it.”

Elliot was first introduced to Ghost by Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen. “I was really intrigued, so I asked him [Collen] to Dropbox me the new album,” said Elliott.” I listened to it all, and I thought it was absolutely stunning. It’s like a whole new genre of music—it’s way more Toto than death metal or any of that stuff. It’s like the song ‘Spillways.’ It starts off like ‘Hold the Line’ by Toto or ‘Jane’ by Jefferson Starship—one of those classic ’70s songs that begin on the piano before these big, chunky chords come in.”

In a statement on their collaboration, Elliott added, “Impera was my favorite rock album of 2022. I found out along the way that Tobias is a bit of a fan of [Def Leppard], so I guess it was inevitable we’d both find out about each other. Once we’d been introduced to the idea of working together it just snowballed organically and I’m thrilled that I got to sing on what is my favorite song from that album.”

“Spillways” remains in the top 5 of the Active Rock Radio chart and has already generated nearly 50 million streams globally since its release.

“This is an elegy for the darkness that most people have inside,” said Forge of the track. “When you have a dam, spillways are the run-offs so the dam won’t overflow. That darkness inside us needs to find its way out.”

Photo: Courtesy of Nasty Little Man