Def Leppard didn’t ease into 2026. The British rock legends release “Rejoice” via UMe, a hard-driving new single that arrives with the kind of weight and momentum the band hasn’t leaned into for some time. It’s out now.
The song came together through a direct creative exchange between singer Joe Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen. “I said to Phil one day, ‘I’ve got this idea for a lyric where the narrator is at absolute rock bottom and wants to rise up to a higher level,'” Elliott explains. “Do you have a musical piece that might match with that?” Collen had exactly that, building a tribal drum loop around an existing riff before handing it back to Elliott, who sang straight over it in one pass.
“It all started gelling and just sounded like a powerful chant,” Collen says. “It’s hard rock for us. It’s got a bit more of an ‘oomph’ than stuff we’ve been doing for a while. It’s kind of magical.” Ronan McHugh contributed additional drum loop work that helped lock the final arrangement into place. The result is one of the most immediate tracks the band has released in years.