Def Leppard’s Wednesday night concert in Little Rock will be preceded by a meeting between the British band and Arkansas’ own deaf Leopards.
The organizer of a Change.org petition said Tuesday that the group behind hits such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Photograph” will participate in a photo shoot before Wednesday’s arena show in Little Rock alongside athletes from the Arkansas School for the Deaf’s football team, the Leopards.
Cary Tyson, the organizer of the petition, had garnered more than 1,400 signatures during the course of a two-month social media campaign that culminated in Tuesday’s announcement.
“Great news! The band has graciously agreed to take a photo with students from the Arkansas School for the Deaf,” he wrote.
The petition had called on the group to visit the campus ahead of Wednesday’s gig and pose for a picture in front of a scoreboard that proudly reads “Arkansas School for the Deaf Leopards.”
Scheduling conflicts precluded the band from making it to the school before their scheduled concert, but Mr. Tyson said the group agreed to pose with a 5-foot-wide replica of the scoreboard at Little Rock’s Verizon Arena with five of the school’s athletes prior to the performance.
Stacey Tatera, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas School for the Deaf, called the arrangement a “tribute to the power of social media” and applauded the band for helping out what she called the “crown jewel of Arkansas,” the Democrat-Gazette newspaper reported.
“We’re so proud for anyone to shine a light on our school, on deaf education and on the work we do here,” she said.
Def Leppard, the band, was formed in Sheffield, England, in 1977 and won the awards for favorite heavy metal artist and album at the 1989 American Music Awards. The Arkansas School for the Deaf, meanwhile, has called its athletes “Leopards” since at least 1941, the Democrat-Gazette reported.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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