Joe Elliott was born in Sheffield in 1959 and has been in the rock scene since he was 18. At a very young age, he joined the local band Atomic Mass, which would later become one of the most prominent and iconic figures in the rock world, Def Leppard. Besides his career with the band, the musician has also embarked on several other projects and collaborated with icons such as Brian May, Slash, and Ronnie Wood.
Elliott is now 63 years old and continues to perform with Leppard. No one can deny that he still does a great job with his band and has not lost his energetic spirit. Although he is still young at heart, and there are several musicians older than him who rock the stage, Joe Elliot seems to have started thinking about his death. In fact, he has even prepared the playlist that he wishes to be played at his funeral.
Which Songs Does Joe Elliott Want To Be Played At His Funeral?
It may be difficult for some to visualize their death and funeral, but Joe Elliott has already started to plan it and even created a playlist to play at his funeral. While some of the names on the list wouldn’t surprise the rocker’s fans, there are several tracks that no one would expect to be played at a ceremony after a person’s death.
Elliott revealed his plans for his funeral when he joined Kylie Olsson’s ‘Music And Me’ podcast in 2018. When asked a question about his funeral, the musician shared that he’s already written his will and even listed the songs he’d like to play at his funeral. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Mott The Hoople are on the list, and as Joe Elliott’s devoted fans know, he loves them and has performed with both acts before.
Mott The Hoople’s ‘All The Young Dudes’ is one of the songs that would not be expected to be played at a funeral, and Joe Elliott emphasized this by saying that it doesn’t look like a death march. Similarly, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s ‘Anthem’ sounds almost like a New Year’s Eve song. However, he shared that the idea of playing them while his ashes are being scattered sounds very nice to him. He added that he also wanted to add ironic songs to the list that would make people laugh, but he had not yet decided what they would be.
Here are Joe Elliott’s plans for his ceremony and the playlist he prepared:
“Well, I’ve already written it into my will that I want ‘Anthem’ by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band; ‘All The Young Dudes,’ of course, by Mott The Hoople; and probably ‘Rest In Peace’ by Mott The Hoople, which is an obvious choice, but it’s just a great song. I might even record my own version and get them to play me doing it. Yeah, just play my own funeral.
It’s been overdone to play things like Monty Python’s ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life,’ because it’s been done. But I will probably throw in some ironic song that will make the ones that are sniffling burst into laughter. I’ve got to throw something mad in there; I don’t know what it is yet. But ‘Dudes’ and ‘Anthem,’ because they’re grand and they sound like…
Well, ‘Dudes’ doesn’t sound like a death march, but ‘Anthem’ by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band has got the drum roll and the piano and then the bagpipes come in and take you out. It’s almost like a New Year’s Eve song; it’s very Scottish. And it sounds like a great song to see my ashes blow off into the distance — hopefully in quite a few years’ time.”
Joe Elliott has been in the music industry for almost 50 years. Despite his age, he hasn’t lost his energy and even recently took the stage with his band for the Stadium Tour, which is now considered one of the most significant tours in the contemporary metal scene. Hopefully, he will stay on the stage for many more years.
