Def Leppard ramps up American tour

Def Leppard [ tickets ] has added a half dozen dates to its North American tour ahead of next month's kick off.The outing is now scheduled to roll out July 30 in Hidalgo, TX, and visit US cities from the Midwest to the East Coast and few Canadian provinces through late August. Since last check, dates have been added in Biloxi, MS; Des Moines, IA; Omaha, NE; Dayton, OH; and Syracuse, NY.Billy Idol will open the majority of the shows (Aug. 6-15 and 17-21), and special guests on other select dates include Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (July 30 - Aug. 3), Everclear (Aug. 16) and Styx/REO Speedwagon (Aug. 23).Several of the gigs are make-up dates for spring concerts that were postponed while singer Joe Elliot recuperated from an upper respiratory tract infection.Def Leppard is back to running at full speed, currently in the midst of an extensive European tour that stretches through mid-July. The classic rockers also have plans to visit Japan and Australia in the fall. North American dates are listed below and those overseas can be found at the band's website.Def Leppard is supporting its 14th studio release, "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge," which bowed at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 in May and shot to the top of the magazine's rock and hard-rock album charts. The lead single, "Nine Lives" featuring country star Tim McGraw, sat atop the classic rock chart for four weeks and climbed to No. 13 on the mainstream-rock radio chart, according to a press release.The second single, "C'Mon C'Mon," is scheduled to impact radio next Monday (7/30)."Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" follows Def Leppard's 2006 all-covers release "Yeah!" and is the band's first set of newly written material since 2002's "X."During their 30-year career, the rockers have sold more than 65 million albums worldwide and earned prestigious Diamond Awards for 1983's "Pyromania" and 1987's "Hysteria."