A rock group that had two of the Top 25 albums of the 1980s and is among the 50 best-selling music acts of all time, will play its first concert in the Lehigh Valley in more than a decade – and is bringing along two other top-selling and highly regarded bands.
Def Leppard, which has had 10 albums go gold or platinum, including the 12-times-platinum 1987 disc “Hysteria,” will open its latest tour at Allentown’s PPL Center at 7 p.m. March 2, it was announced.
Joining it will be alt-rockers Goo Goo Dolls, who in the 1990s and 2000s had nine gold and platinum hits, including the No. 1 songs “Iris” and “Slide.”
Also on the bill will be The Struts, the British rock band with the throwback glam-rock style that has produced the alt-rock hits “Could Have Been Me” and “Kiss This.”
Tickets for the show, at $195.80-$1,146, are available at PPLCenter.com, at the arena box office at 701 Hamilton St., or at 610-347-TIXX.
Def Leppard last played the Lehigh Valley with a show at PPL Center in 2016, to a near-capacity crowd of 9,000, and headlined opening night of Allentown Fair’s grandstand in 2015, when it drew 8,013 people with Styx and Tesla.
The show will kick off a 45-date tour that will take Def Leppard through July 2. The only other Pennsylvania date will be March 23 in Pittsburgh.
Def Leppard has had 10 albums that have gone gold or platinum, the biggest of which was its 1987 disc “Hysteria,” which had the No. 1 hit “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” and is among the Top 60 best-selling albums of all time.
Its 1983 album “Pyromania” sold 10 million copies and had the No. 1 hits “Photograph” and “Rock of Ages” and the Top 10 “Foolin’.” Both albums hit No. 1.
The group’s 1995 greatest hits album “Vault” sold 5 million copies and 1992’s “Adrenalize” sold 3 million.
The group’s most recent album of new material was 2022’s “Diamond Star Halos,” its only disc of new material in the past 11 years, which peaked at No. 10 on the Albums chart.
In all, 17 of Def Leppard’s singles have hit Top 10 on the rock charts. Its last Top 30 single was “Four Letter Word” in 2002.
In its nearly 50-year career, Def Leppard has been a favorite of Allentown. The band also played Allentown Fair in 2003, when it drew nearly 4,200 people; in 2000 to a crowd of 5,300; and in 1999 to a crowd of 8,600. It also played a non-fair shows at the fairgrounds to 9,000 people in 1993 and 14,000 in 1988 and in 1983.
It was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
Goo Goo Dolls has had a dozen and a half songs in the Top 20 of Billboard’s adult rock chart over the past 20 years. Its 14 Top 10 hits on the Adult Contemporary chart is a record.
The band consists of original members singer-guitarist John Rzeznik and bassist-singer Robby Takac. Longtime drummer Mike Malinin left the band in 2013; it now uses a touring drummer.
With other hits such as “Name,” “Broadway,” “Black Balloon” and a hit cover of Supertramp’s “Give a Little Bit” that also went to No. 1, the group has had five gold and platinum singles. Its most recent was 2006’s “Stay With You.”
Its most recent charting single was 2019’s “Miracle Pill.”
Goo Goo Dolls also has had four gold or platinum albums. Among them are 1998’s triple-platinum “Dizzy Up the Girl” and 1995’s double-platinum “A Boy Named Goo.” Seven of its albums hit the Top 30, including its most recent, “Boxes,” released in 2016.
The group most recently released an EP, “Summer Anthem,” in 2025.
“Iris,” which was used in the movie “City of Angels,” spent nearly a year on the Billboard charts. The group also has had four Grammy Award nominations.
Goo Goo Dolls headlined Bethlehem’s Musikfest festival in 2019 and 2012, and played Sands Bethlehem Event Center in 2016 and in 2013, and Allentown Fair in 2000.
The group has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.
The Struts, whose style recalls bands such as The Rolling Stones and Queen and who has had the hits “Could Have Been Me” and “Kiss This,” drew about 1,500 people to a paid-ticket show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in August 2025 and sold out a show at Allentown’s Archer Music Hall in April.
The group also headlined a sold-out show in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center in 2018.
The Struts released its debut album, "Everybody Wants," in 2014, and it hit No. 15 on the Rock chart. That disc also included the Top 10 Alternative chart hits "Could Have Been Me," which sold platinum, "Put Your Money on Me," which hit the Top 25, and "Kiss This."
“Could Have Been Me” also hit No. 1 on the Spotify Viral chart and No. 4 on the iTunes rock singles chart, and was used as the theme song of the WWE’s NXT brand’s 2015 pay-per-view NXT Takeover: London.
The band’s follow-up EP, “Have You Heard …” in 2015 hit the Top 10 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Its 2017 single “One Night Only” peaked at No. 18 on the Alternative chart, and 2018’s "Body Talks" at No. 12. Its most recent disc was the 2023 EP “Pretty Visious.”
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