Derrik J. Lang from The Associated Press caught up with DEF LEPPARD's lead singer Joe Elliott, bassist Rick Savage about the new Rock Of Ages film. "The movie helps a lot without the momentum of something like a new album," said Elliott during a break from rehearsing for the tour, which they're not-so-subtly calling the Rock Of Ages tour. Here are a few more excerpts from the chat:

AP: You weren't associated with the Rock of Ages stage show but you are with the film. Why's that?

Joe Elliott: "You could say with hindsight that we didn't make a wrong decision, we just made a decision. We revisited that decision when they threw out the idea of the film to us because they mentioned people like Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand and Catherine Zeta-Jones and the director who did Hairspray."

AP: Did you ever in a million years think Tom Cruise would be singing one of your songs in a musical?

Rick Savage: "It's not one of those things you think about, really."

Joe Elliott: "Could you imagine if it was though? You get in the shower one day and go, 'I wonder if Tom Cruise will ever sing 'Pour Some Sugar on Me?'"

Rick Savage: "We were fortune enough to check his filming out of that particular performance because we were both in Florida at the same time. We were about half an hour's drive away. We just had to get there as he was shooting some of the scenes. That was special in itself, just getting to meet the man."

Joe Elliott: "It was pretty surreal, actually. We just walked into this little seedy club in Ft. Lauderdale, and there up on stage is Stacee Jaxx doing 'Sugar'. It's like, 'What is this?' It's nuts."

AP: Why did you decide to release re-recorded versions of 'Rock Of Ages' and 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' this summer?

Joe Elliott: "Our work is not available on any digital domain, except for the last album, the Mirrorball album, because it's a catalog issue with the record label, so we just wanted studio versions of those songs available for this summer because of the film coming out."

Read more at The Associated Press.