AceShowbiz - Def Leppard star Joe Elliott has accused the music press of failing to give rock bands due credit - insisting his group deserves the same respect as stars such as Bono, Sir Paul McCartney and Morrissey. The singer claims music journalists fawn over big name stars such as the U2 frontman and the former The Beatles bassist, but often ridicule his band even though they have enjoyed comparable success.

And Elliott can't understand why Def Leppard aren't considered "cool". He tells Britain's Metro, "We don't get the credit we deserve in Britain... It's nice to walk down Oxford Street without being recognized but then again when music magazines write about us they take the p**s (ridicule us) because we're not as cool as Johnny Marr, who isn't as successful as us by a million miles. (British TV host) Jools Holland won't have us on his show because we're not cool enough."

"Rock's ploughed its own furrow for 30 years but still music magazines don't give rock its due... How many more front covers do Paul McCartney and Morrissey need? Our album will sell more than Morrissey's so why don't we get the same kind of respect?" he adds. "There are more people than Bono and Michael Stipe to put on the cover of a magazine... There are more musicians out there... Bands who have sold s**tloads of records, whether it be us or Depeche Mode, are becoming footnotes."