Def Leppard's Phil Collen: 'Everyone is still copying Britney Spears'

Def Leppard's Phil Collen has claimed that most modern popstars are copying Britney Spears.

The guitarist suggested that the modern themes of females rebelling and taking control of their sexuality was started by Spears in the late '90s and that contemporary divas are still trying to emulate her.

When asked whether he thought any current bands had a direct stamp from Def Leppard, Collen told Ultimate Classic Rock: "When anyone has a big album, everyone copies it, whether it's Nirvana, Def Leppard, Lady GaGa, everyone absolutely copies it.

"Everyone's still copying Britney Spears, it's really interesting. She actually started a huge trend and they're still trying to do this."

He added: "I listen to the LA radio stations and there's all these girls singing about being a bad girl and all this stuff and it all wants to be Britney. It's very interesting."

Def Leppard laughed off speculation last year that they were going to split and cemented the claims with new live album Mirrorball: Live and More earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Spears is preparing to release her new single 'I Wanna Go' on August 8.

Watch the music video for 'I Wanna Go' below: