Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen recently clarified the long-standing rumors surrounding an alleged backstage confrontation with Glenn Danzig at a European music festival more than three decades ago.
During a new appearance on “The Jeremy White Show“, Collen was asked to detail his version of the heavily debated incident, which allegedly involved a spilled bowl of soup and a physical altercation between members of the two rock camps. The guitarist downplayed the severity of the event, explaining that the situation was entirely accidental and never escalated into physical violence.
“Yeah, we were doing a festival in Europe [around 1993]. And, actually, it wasn’t really me. Vivian Campbell‘s ex-wife was just getting out the back of a van and she bumped into Glenn Danzig and he had some soup. And it spilled the soup and he got all pissy. And him and Viv were having all this thing. And I remember I said to him, ‘Dude, I’ll get you another soup. It’s fine. It’s totally fine.’ And I didn’t in the end, because it got a little heated vocally. But that was it. And it never ended up in a punch-up or anything… And then it was kind of defused. It’s, like, ‘Well, dude, I’ll get you soup if you want.’ And, yeah, didn’t happen,” Phil stated.
Reflecting on how the story has morphed over the years, the guitarist made it clear that he harbors no lingering resentment toward the former Misfits frontman.
“Like all these things, they get blown out of proportion, I’m sure. I’m sure if I saw Glenn Danzig it’d be great. It’s like, yeah, dude, who cares? Yeah, I’ll buy you a soup juice or something. It’s, like I don’t care. It’s no big deal,” Collen added.
The legend of the soup incident has circulated within the rock community for decades. Previous reports claimed that Glenn Danzig aggressively yelled at Vivian Campbell‘s then-wife to “get the f**k out of the way!” while holding his food. Following that alleged outburst, Campbell and Def Leppard lead vocalist Joe Elliott claimed in an interview with MuchMusic that someone from their camp kicked Danzig in the rear end, knocking him to the ground and causing the soup to spill. They did not specify who delivered the kick.
When that specific version of the story gained public traction in the 1990s, Def American issued an official press release containing a fierce rebuttal from Danzig, who outright denied the physical assault.
Calling the band’s account “a total fabrication. Anyone who knows me or my past knows that I never walk away from a fight,” he said. “It’s true that an altercation occurred, but we never came to blows, as reported.”
He also added at the time: “As a student of martial arts, I am quite capable of taking care of myself. Next time, they won’t be given that respect.”
