Rick Allen ( drummer ) - wikipedia Rick Allen ( drummer ) Rick Allen Allen live with Def Leppard on 13 August 2008 in Winnipeg Background information Birth name Richard John Cyril Allen Also known as The Thunder God ( 1963 - 11 - 01 ) 1 November 1963 ( age 53 ) Dronfield, Derbyshire, England Genres Hard rock, heavy metal, glam metal Occupation ( s ) Musician Instruments Drums, percussion, vocals Years active 1978 -- present Labels Island, Mercury, Polygram Associated acts Def Leppard Website rickallen.com Richard John Cyril `` Rick '' Allen ( born 1 November 1963 ) is an English drummer who has played for the hard rock band Def Leppard since 1978. He overcame the amputation of his left arm in 1985 and continued to play with the band, which subsequently went on to its most commercially successful phase. He is known as `` The Thunder God '' by fans. Contents 1 Early life 2 Accident and recovery 3 Gear 4 Raven Drum Foundation 5 One Hand Drum Company 6 Side projects 7 Personal life 8 References 9 External links Early Life Allen started playing drums at the age of 9. He performed in bands called Grad, Smokey Blue, Rampant, and the Johnny Kalendar Band. When Allen was 14, his mother replied on his behalf to an ad placed by a band called `` Def Leppard '' looking for a drummer to replace Tony Kenning ( `` Leppard loses skins '' was the ad 's headline ). Later, on 1 November 1978, his fifteenth birthday, Allen joined the band. In 1979, he dropped out of school ( other band members left their jobs around the same time ) to concentrate on a career in music. In September 1979, they opened for Sammy Hagar at London 's Hammersmith Odeon. Subsequently, Def Leppard played shows as a support act for AC / DC during October and November 1979. Allen celebrated his 16th birthday with a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon. On 14 March 1980, the band released their first album, On Through the Night. Since their first album, Allen still continues to record and tour with the band. Accident and recovery `` What I 've experienced through losing my arm, I would n't change. The human spirit is so strong. '' Rick Allen On the afternoon of 31 December 1984, Allen was involved in a car accident with his girlfriend Miriam Barendsen in the English countryside a few miles west of Sheffield. While trying to pass another car at a high speed, he lost control of his Corvette C4, which hit a dry stone wall and entered a field. He was thrown from the car because his seatbelt had been improperly fastened, causing his left arm to be severed, while his girlfriend suffered head injuries, resulting in grade 2 concussion and brain swelling ; she also suffered neck and spine injuries from severe whiplash. Doctors initially reattached Allen 's arm, but because of an infection, it had to be re-amputated. His right shoulder was also severely broken in the accident. Allen initially had doubts about continuing to play with the band, but was encouraged by the other members to continue. Allen, along with a few engineers, started to design a drum set to assist his drumming. At the time, he was still able to play some drum rhythms with one hand and use his left leg, typically for hi - hat pedals in common drum kits, to play the snare drum. Then - Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich helped and encouraged Allen during his convalescence, and designed an electronic kit Allen could play using only one arm. The Ludwig acoustic drum kit he used on earlier albums High ' n ' Dry and Pyromania was later given away by Def Leppard 's one - time management. Electronic drum manufacturer Simmons created a kit to their specifications, and Allen made his post-accident debut in 1986 at the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. Gear Allen has used custom - manufactured cable routing by Whirlwind. He uses four electronic pedals for his left foot to play the pieces he used to play with his left arm, which from left to right trigger sounds of a closing hi - hat, bass drum, snare drum, and a tom drum. He is ranked No. 7 on the UK website Gigwise in The Greatest Drummers of All Time list. On 16 October 2009, Yamaha announced the addition of Rick Allen to their artist roster. Allen plays Yamaha Oak Custom drums with a matching subkick. Along with Yamaha Oak Custom drums, Allen also uses Remo drumheads ( usually he has coated ambassadors on his drums and a clear powerstroke 3 on his bass drum ), Zildjian cymbals ( mostly K customs and A customs ), and a LP rock cowbell for Rock of Ages. Rick Allen had used Vater drumsticks and Zildjian drumsticks from the 1980s until 1994. In 1995 up to the present, he uses Easton Ahead drumsticks. Raven drum Foundation Allen and his wife Lauren Monroe are the co-founders of The Raven Drum Foundation, a charity located in Malibu, California, with a mission to serve, educate, and empower veterans and people in crisis. The Raven Drum Foundation commonly works to help individuals and communities in crisis through healing arts programs, drum circle events, and collaborative partnerships. Allen described the foundations involvement with Camp Kilpatrick in 2009 : Rhythm is such a big part of their culture and their own way of communicating, so we were able to go in there and design a program around them. It developed into drum council, which is an ongoing program that we provided for the camp. We had tremendous success. One Hand drum Company The One Hand Drum Company was created by Allen to assist in providing awareness and funding for his Raven Drum Foundation. Currently, the primary focus of the One Hand Drum Company is promoting StikRick, a drawing by Rick of a one - armed drummer that he sometimes uses with his autograph. The StikRick site sells T - shirts, hats, and other items with the StikRick drawing along with a `` Life Is Great ! ! Be A Rockstar ! ! '' slogan. Proceeds from the One Hand Drum Company go to support the Raven Drum Foundation charity. Side projects In May and June 2000, Allen played two shows with the Mark Mason Project, featuring guitarist Mark Englert previously of Dramarama. Allen has written music with his wife Lauren as well as played on her albums. In November 2004, Allen collaborated with Krishna Das in the recording of a CD entitled All One. Personal Life Allen was married to his first wife Stacy from 1991 to 2000 ; they had a daughter in 1997. In 1995, Allen was arrested for spousal abuse. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced on 6 August 1996 to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, sought counselling, and served 30 days on a graffiti - removal work crew. They divorced in 2000. Allen married again, on 10 October 2003, to Lauren Monroe. On 1 December 2010, Monroe gave birth to a daughter. References Jump up ^ Gold, Adam ( 7 August 2009 ). `` Def Leppard 's Rick Allen : The Cream Interview ( Updated ) ''. Nashville Scene. Retrieved 13 September 2012. Jump up ^ `` Rick Allen -- Bio -- About Rick Allen ''. MTV Artists. Retrieved 11 March 2014. Jump up ^ `` Artist Biography ''. Zildjian. Retrieved 27 July 2015. Jump up ^ Jeffrey, Laura ( 2010 ). Def Leppard : Arena Rock Band. Enslow. p. 37. ISBN 978 - 0 - 766 - 03234 - 7. Jump up ^ page of a Def Leppard web site with details about Rick Allen 's car accident Jump up ^ Fricke, D., and M. Selinger. `` To Hell & Back. ( Cover Story ). '' Rolling Stone 629 ( 1992 ) : 38. Retrieved 20 February 2015. Jump up ^ Stevens, Christine. `` Reclaiming the Rhythm : An Interview with Rick Allen. '' Percussive Notes 08 2002 : 54, 56. Retrieved 20 February 2015. Jump up ^ MacDonald, Les ( 2010 ). The Day the Music Died. Xlibris. p. 114. ISBN 978 - 1 - 469 - 11356 - 2. Jump up ^ Whirlwind / Def Leppard Archived 19 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` The Greatest Drummers Of All Time ! ''. gigwise.com. Gigwise. Retrieved 12 May 2015. Jump up ^ Yamaha Welcomes Legendary Rick Allen to its Drum Roster Yamaha Artists. Yamaha.com ( 16 October 2009 ). Retrieved on 15 September 2011. Jump up ^ Solid as Oak : Def Leppard Drummer Plays Yamaha -- Drums -- News & Events -- Yamaha United States. Usa.yamaha.com ( 9 October 2009 ). Retrieved on 15 September 2011. Jump up ^ Mission and Vision. Raven Drum Foundation. Retrieved on 15 September 2011. Jump up ^ `` Ability Magazine : Def Leppard 's Rick Allen '' ( 2009 ) ``. Retrieved 3 April 2012. Jump up ^ One Hand Drum Company -- About Us. Noflash.stikrick.com. Retrieved on 15 September 2011. Jump up ^ Lauren Monroe Music Store -- Freedom Sessions. Laurenmonroe.com. Retrieved on 15 September 2011. Jump up ^ Helligar, Jeremy ( 19 August 1996 ). `` Passages ''. People. Retrieved 18 December 2009. External links RickAllen.com The Raven Drum Foundation Rick Allen @ DefLeppard.com Preceded by Tony Kenning Def Leppard Drummer 1978 -- present Incumbent Def Leppard Joe Elliott Rick Savage Rick Allen Phil Collen Vivian Campbell Tony Kenning Pete Willis Steve Clark Studio albums On Through the Night High ' n ' Dry Pyromania Hysteria Adrenalize Slang Euphoria X Yeah ! Songs from the Sparkle Lounge Def Leppard Live albums Mirror Ball -- Live & More Viva ! Hysteria Compilations Retro Active Vault : Def Leppard Greatest Hits ( 1980 -- 1995 ) Best of Def Leppard Rock of Ages : The Definitive Collection EPs The Def Leppard E.P. Live : In the Clubs, in Your Face Videography Historia Live : In the Round, in Your Face Visualize Video Archive Historia / Live : In the Round, in Your Face Visualize / Video Archive Best of the Videos Rock of Ages : The DVD Collection CMT Crossroads -- Taylor Swift and Def Leppard Viva ! Hysteria And There Will Be A Next Time - Live From Detroit Concert tours Def Leppard Early Tours 1978 -- 1979 On Through the Night World Tour Pyromania World Tour Hysteria World Tour Slang World Tour Yeah ! Tour Downstage Thrust Tour Songs from the Sparkle Lounge Tour Mirror Ball Tour Viva ! Hysteria Heroes Tour World Tour 2015 Related Articles Discography Members Awards & Nominations Hysteria -- The Def Leppard Story Groups Cybernauts Man Raze Down ' n ' Outz Atomic Mass Gogmagog People Robert John `` Mutt '' Lange Jeff Rich Ross Halfin Frank Noon VIAF : 226863730 MusicBrainz : fc555fbc - a441 - 47e5 - 8ee4 - 21af15c454dd Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Allen_(drummer)&oldid=807399011 '' Categories : 1963 births Def Leppard members English amputees English rock drummers English heavy metal drummers Living people People from Dronfield Amputee musicians Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use dmy dates from May 2017 EngvarB from May 2017 Articles with hCards All articles with vague or ambiguous time Vague or ambiguous time from September 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2017 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Français 한국어 Italiano 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 18 : 10. 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Question: what year did the drummer lose his arm
Answer: 1985