The Sturgis Buffalo Chip continues to add to its lengthy list of attractions for this August’s Sturgis Rally with the announcement that legendary rock band Def Leppard will join a concert lineup that also includes ZZ Top, Limp Bizkit, Styx, and George Thorogood and the Destroyers, among many others.
And if music ain’t your thang, The Chip will also bring a fantastic stunt extravaganza as a tribute to Robby Knievel. Kyle Ives – famous for his family’s “Wall of Death” shows – will jump a motorcycle over highwire walker Blake Wallenda of The Flying Wallenda family of performers. Proceeds from the August 10 stunt will benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
More information in the press release below.
STURGIS, SD – April 25, 2023 – The Sturgis Buffalo Chip, hailed as The Best Party Anywhere, has added multi-platinum, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Def Leppard to the list of rock superstars performing at its annual event this summer, which runs August 4-13 at The Buffalo Chip Campground in Sturgis, SD.
Headliners announced so far include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Limp Bizkit, ZZ Top, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Whiskey Myers, Koe Wetzel, and George Thorogood and the Destroyers, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. Campground passes, which include entry to all shows at the amphitheater, are available at buffalochip.com.
The four-decade-old, 10-day gathering of music fans and motorcycle enthusiasts also revealed plans for a first-of-its-kind Death Wire Daredevil Spectacular that will happen just prior to the Def Leppard set at The Chip on Thursday, Aug. 10.
Blake The Flying Wallenda will attempt one of the longest highwire walks of his career, “The Death Wire Walk,” over the Sturgis Buffalo Chip amphitheater with no safety netting, while motorcycle Wall of Death daredevil Kyle Ives jumps a motorcycle over him, a feat that even the legendary Evel Knievel and Karl Wallenda wouldn’t attempt! Blake and Kyle are the descendants of the godfathers of extreme sports – The Flying Wallenda Brothers and the Ives Brothers.
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“Fifty years ago when my great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, produced a daredevil show with Evel Knievel, the two conceived the plan to execute this stunt, but for some reason they didn’t follow through on it,” explains Blake Wallenda. “Some speculated that it was too dangerous, but that’s just what these amazing daredevils lived for. I know that I’ll be honoring their memories by my attempt, and that’s why I have decided to go through with this deadly performance without any safety tether or safety netting. Everything about this whole event is unprecedented. But if I’m not scaring myself, I’m not doing my job right.”
Buffalo Chip founder Rod “Woody” Woodruff and Wall of Death stunt rider Shawn Ives dreamed up the idea to attempt the sensational stunt as a way to pay tribute to daredevil Robbie Knievel, son of Evel, who passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer. Shawn Ives, father of Kyle, is a cancer survivor. To honor both men, The Chip has teamed up with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, a non-profit organization with a long history of working with the motorcycling community, for a fundraising effort dubbed Ride for the Kids to The Chip. More information and registration for the fundraiser can be found here.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Def Leppard back to The Chip’s main stage,” Woodruff said. “The Death Wire Walk is the kind of performance that will go down in history. When we were thinking of ways to remember Robbie at this year’s event, I knew we had to put together something bold, dangerous and daring enough to celebrate him. This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event, and knowing that it will also raise money for kids with cancer ensures that its legacy will live on for years to come.”
Before Def Leppard takes the stage on Aug. 10, Blake The Flying Wallenda will be challenged to walk 475 feet across the middle of the Buffalo Chip’s main amphitheater on a steel wire that has a diameter of only 5/8 of an inch. A couple hundred feet into his walk, as he reaches a spot above Main Street in the Buffalo Chip amphitheater, Kyle Ives, wearing Robbie Knievel’s famous signature jumpsuit, will throttle his motorcycle up a specially built ramp in hopes of flying so high that he flies over Wallenda, without striking the wire, the daredevil or the balance beam. If he accomplishes all that, Ives will still have to make a landing and Blake will have to walk the remaining distance of about 175 feet.
The Sturgis Buffalo Chip has a long history of hosting spectacular motorcycle stunts. In 2003, Robbie Knievel successfully completed a world record jump over 100 Harley-Davidsons inside the Buffalo Chip amphitheater to commemorate Harley-Davidson’s 100th Anniversary. And in 2007, Knievel thrilled crowds when he cleared 205 feet in the amphitheater, jumping through flaming towers of pyrotechnics.
In 2013, fans crossed their fingers and held their breath when motorcycle daredevil Clint Ewing attempted to break the Guinness World Record for longest motorcycle ride – 338 feet – through a tunnel of fire. In 2015, Doug Danger broke a world record with an insane 22-car jump on Evel Knievel’s vintage 1972 Harley-Davidson XR-750. Two years later, Danger attempted one of Evel Knievel’s earliest failed jumps – flying 120 feet through the air over the top of a holding tank containing vicious, venomous vipers. More stunts detailed here.
About Def Leppard
With more than 110 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards in the U.S., 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Def Leppard – Joe Elliott (vocals), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick Savage (bass), Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Rick Allen (drums) — continue to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career the band has produced a series of classic ground-breaking albums that set the bar for generations of music fans and artists alike. The group’s spectacular live shows and arsenal of hits have become synonymous with their name, leading Def Leppard to be heralded as the world’s greatest live rock band.
Def Leppard’s influential career includes numerous hit singles and ground-breaking multi-platinum albums—including two of the best-selling albums of all time, Pyromania and Hysteria, capturing the group’s legendary tracks, bringing together classic Leppard hits such as “Rock of Ages,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Foolin.”
For the first time, in January 2018 Def Leppard debuted their full recording catalog worldwide via streaming and download platforms. As they did with the original release of their records, Def Leppard dominated the worldwide charts again, which found their albums charting in the iTunes Top 10 in more than 30 countries, including Hysteria at #3 in the US, and #5 in the UK. Def Leppard also had the #1, #2 and #3 records on the U.S. catalog albums chart. The band has gone on to amass a staggering 6 billion streams since 2018, reaching a younger 18-44 demographic that now represents 58% of their fan base. Additionally, the band has garnered an impressive 15 million followers across their social media platforms.
In May 2022, Def Leppard released their 12th studio album Diamond Star Halos. The album debuted at #1 on the Apple and Amazon Music charts. The album also scored a Top 10 debut on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart, marking the band’s eighth Top 10 album of their career, and also making them one of just three groups with a newly charting top-10 title on the Billboard 200 albums chart in each decade since the ‘80s. Diamond Star Halos additionally garnered a #1 debut on Billboard’s Hard Rock chart.
Following the close of their historic 2018 co-headline stadium and arena run in North America, Def Leppard sold a staggering number of tickets, a massive feat in today’s touring world. Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe topped that number yet again with another sold-out North American stadium run in 2022. As always, the group keeps pushing the boundaries with their electrifying live shows. Next up for Def Leppard, the band has teamed up with London’s iconic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a new album, Drastic Symphonies, set to be released May 19, 2023.
About The Sturgis Buffalo Chip
The Sturgis Buffalo Chip is the award-winning leader in music and motorcycle lifestyle experiences. Hailed as The Largest Music Festival in Motorcycling and The Best Party Anywhere, it has been the epicenter of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally since its establishment in 1981. Every August, the Buffalo Chip brings together the world’s largest gathering of music and motorcycle fans, with visitors from all 50 states and over 20 countries. It remains one of the world’s most televised and longest-running independent music festivals. The Chip advances the Sturgis Rally by being home to the Sturgis Rally Information Center and the official sponsor of the Sturgis.com Official Sturgis Rally Registration Program. More details are available at BuffaloChip.com.
About Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Ride for the Kids
For over 30 years, the motorcycling community has helped families facing the deadliest childhood disease through the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Ride for Kids. Named the American Motorcyclist Association’s Recreational Road Riding Organizer of the Year, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (curethekids.org) is the largest patient advocacy funder of pediatric brain tumor research and the only organization to meet families’ needs along every step of their cancer journey.
