Def Leppard News - 29 Years Ago Rick Allen Loses His Left Arm 29 Years Ago Rick Allen Loses His Left Arm Tuesday, 31st December 2013 Screenshot by DefDazz/Darren Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a near fatal car crash 29 years ago today in 1984. Rick, who turned 50 this year, was driving back from the Ladybower Reservoir outside of Sheffield, England on the A57 road with girlfriend Miriam Barendsen when he was involved in an accident. Rick lost control of his left hand drive Corvette and hit a wall. His seatbelt came undone and took off his left arm as he was thrown through the sunroof. Luckily a local nurse and a policeman passing by stopped to help. According to Phil Collen in 2013 the pair later married each other (they both appeared in the 1998 Behind The Music show). Surgeons managed to reattach the arm but sadly on 4th January 1985 it had to be amputated.

Rick managed to recover to play drums again within 3 months of his accident and has continued to be the drummer with Def Leppard to the present day. Shown below is a thank you note written by Rick to fans in the Spring or Summer 1985 fan club newsletter after he returned to the band. Earlier this month marked exactly 35 years since since Rick's first show with the band and in late November it was also 35 years since he joined. 2013 Photo Gallery - Rick Allen aka Camp Out Rick Allen Thank you note - From 1985 Fan Club Newsletter "Hello there, Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to the many people who wrote to me whilst in hospital, I must say that the letters & cards were a great comfort to me, and made my stay in hospital much more bearable. As for the future Def Leppard will carry on as before, and when the next album is complete we shall be back on the road ASAP. I've recently been working with my new drum kit, and so far everything is going really well, thanks for all your support, and I'll look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Sincerely, Rick Allen." Joe Elliott Of Def Leppard On Rick Allen Losing Arm - YouTube Joe Elliott Of Def Leppard On Rick Allen Losing Arm Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Nov 13, 2014 This December, the 31st to be exact, marks a very pivotal point in Def Leppard’s history. The year marks thirty years since the life altering accident suffered by Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen in which he lost his left arm in an auto accident in England. Allen had to relearn how to play drums and drum manufacturer Simmons worked with him to build a kit. The band sticking with Allen through the difficult time and the drummer persevering through an accident that would have ended most people’s careers is nothing short of remarkable.

Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott was at the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour earlier this month to perform with the rock and roll all-star band Kings Of Chaos, and on the red carpet of the event we asked him about the bittersweet anniversary. Category 29 Years Ago: Def Leppard's Rick Allen Makes An Amazing Comeback REDDIT Dave Hogan, Getty Images The only thing more awe inspiring than Rick Allen’s physical recovery from a car accident that left him with one arm is the way that the Def Leppard drummer overcame immeasurable mental anguish in order to return to the stage on Aug. 16, 1986. Allen never allowed himself the time to roll around in self-pity. Today, he is trying to teach others — including wounded war veterans — how to overcome the obstacles along their path to recovery. It happened on New Year’s Eve, 1984. Allen was speeding along a country road near Sheffield, England. He misjudged an approaching turn and drove his Corvette through a stone wall into a field. The car flipped several times, eventually ejecting him from the driver’s seat. Allen and his girlfriend were wearing seat belts, but he says that his wasn’t properly fastened.

“I left the car and landed in a field, and I think my arm was left in the car,” Allen told the BBC’s ‘ Fighting Back ‘ in 1992. He doesn’t remember any of this; shock has a way of protecting a man from flashbacks. Ironically, going into shock may have saved his life as he says it prevented massive blood loss. A midwife who lived nearby was amongst the first to arrive on the scene, and she packed his arm in ice. Doctors re-attached the left arm, but it had to be removed after gangrene set in. Allen says he was never stung with the sudden realization that he wouldn’t drum again. “My mind and my body let me in on this whole thing very gradually,” he says. “It wasn’t something that just hit me, ‘Oh, my arm’s gone.’ It was over a two or three week period that I actually realized that the whole thing was gone.” His brother brought a stereo into his hospital room to lift his spirits. At first, this gesture backfired. The music was only a reminder of what he’d once been able to do.

Allen joined Def Leppard at age 15, and now, six years later, sat facing uncertainty at best. One arm was gone; the other was badly broken. The self-defeatism didn’t last long. “In order to keep me from sliding down the bed they put this huge piece of foam at the bottom of the bed, which I could sort of press my feet on and push myself up if I needed to,” Allen said. “After listening to music for a few days, I realized I could still play quite a lot of the parts from some of my favorite songs just using my feet.” He continued, “I think that’s one of the things that really helped me is I didn’t give myself very much down time. I never gave myself any sort of time to ‘recover.’ From a mental point of view, I thought it was because I threw myself straight back into work again. And from a work point of view, yeah, I was proving to the rest of the guys in the band that I could do it.” Twenty months later, Rick Allen took the stage for the first time since the accident. There was no easing back into the routine. His first gig was at the ‘Monsters of Rock’ festival at Castle Donington.

The crowd welcomed him back with an enthusiasm that throughout the years has caused him to tear up. Perhaps frontman Joe Elliot best sums up what Allen has accomplished. “Most of the time, I’ve got my back to him, so consequently I’m only ever hearing him,” he said in a band promotional video. “And I forget. He does a great job and one arm, three arms, two arms, who cares you know?” Watch Rick Allen demonstrate his drum style “You can’t really consult the book of one-armed drummers you know,” Allen says in the same interview. In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, he admits his style changed dramatically. “[it’s] a little more deliberate. My left leg is not as accurate as my left hand but over the years, the learning curve has pushed me in a direction that is really cool. I think these days, what I’ve really emphasized is celebrating my uniqueness and the fact that I can do things that other people can’t necessarily do.” Clearly the comeback worked. The ‘ Hysteria ‘ album the band was working on pre-crash went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide. More importantly, Allen discovered the seeds for a dramatic transformation were sown.

In 2005, he told Beliefnet.com , “I felt as though I went to a place where I was on hold, and I was weighing out the pros and cons of staying or going. It wasn’t a painful experience or anything like that. It was actually the most clear thing that I can perceive. It was a group decision made by the universal consciousness.” There were years of drugs and other forms of self-medication before he accepted this spirituality and remarried 10 years ago. Around that time, he also started the Raven Drum Foundation , a nonprofit that works to inspire others through their time of tragedy and hopelessness. The foundation has worked closely with wounded military members, and offers free tickets to every Def Leppard show. Listen to Rick Allen’s return to the stage at the 1986 Monsters of Rock Festival The Top 100 Albums of the ’80s Image of Def Leppard | Rolling Stone artists > D > Def Leppard > Bio Def Leppard Bio In the beginning a chart-breaking debut album, tours with more established heavy-metal bands, and pinup good looks made Def Leppard one of the leaders of the '80s British heavy-metal renaissance.

The members, barely out of their teens when their first album debuted, soon became one of the most consistently successful pop-metal groups of the decade and beyond, becoming, as one Goldmine article put it, "The Heavy Metal Band You Can Bring Home to Mother." Pete Willis and Rick Savage started the group in Sheffield in 1977. Joe Elliott had coined the name Deaf Leopard before joining them; Willis and Savage changed the spelling. As a quartet with a since-forgotten drummer, Def Leppard built a local pub following, and in 1978, after being joined by Steve Clark and hiring a temporary drummer, the group produced its first record, an EP called Getcha Rocks Off, released on its own Bludgeon Riffola label. The record got airplay on the BBC and sold 24,000 copies. The members' self-made success and precociousness (Elliott, the group's eldest member, was 19, and Rick Allen, who became their permanent drummer after playing with several professional Sheffield bands, was 15) brought them the attention of the British rock press. AC/DC manager Peter Mensch added them to his roster and got them a contract with Mercury.

Their first album was a hit in the U.K. and reached #51 in the U.S. The group toured Britain with Sammy Hagar and AC/DC, played the 1980 Reading Festival, and first toured the U.S. opening for Ted Nugent, Pat Travers, Judas Priest, and AC/DC. A second U.S. tour, with Blackfoot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Rainbow, coupled with heavy coverage in the U.S. metal press, created a growing American audience. The group's second album, High 'n' Dry was the first of a string of platinum and multiplatinum LPs, hitting #38 in 1981 and selling over 2 million copies. (It was remixed and rereleased in 1984 with two more tracks, a remixed "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" and "Me and My Wine.") By early 1982 the group had reentered the studio to record Pyromania, which would eventually sell a phenomenal 10 million copies. Midway through the recording, founding guitarist Pete Willis was fired for alcoholism and replaced by Phil Collen, formerly of Girl.

At the same time co-lead guitarist Steve Clark was beginning a slide into the extreme alcohol addiction that would eventually kill him. Shortly after Pyromania's release, the band embarked on its first world tour. MTV, undeniably a factor in the band's U.S. success, began airing "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," and within the next few years virtually all the band's videos (beginning with Pyromania's "Rock of Ages," "Photograph," and "Foolin'") would go into heavy rotation. When producer Mutt Lange, with whom the group had recorded since its major-label debut, was unavailable to work on their next album, Def Leppard turned to Jim Steinman, most famous for his work with Meat Loaf. When Steinman proved incompatible, High 'n' Dry engineer Nigel Green stepped in. Just one month later, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a New Year's Eve car accident after he attempted to pass another driver at high speed. Surgeons reattached the limb, but after infection set in, it was amputated.

Def Leppard's future was in doubt, but by the spring of 1985 Allen was learning to play drums again with the help of a specially adapted Simmons kit. (For a while he performed with special electronic equipment, using prerecorded tapes of his drumming for some parts, then returned to a regular acoustic kit with customized foot pads in 1995.) The band continued recording, but when Lange heard the tapes, he suggested the band scrap them and start again. In August 1986 Allen performed for the first time since his accident on the European Monsters of Rock Tour. In early 1987 the band finally completed work on the long-awaited Hysteria, which spun off six Top 20 singles: "Animal" (#19, 1987; and their first Top 40 hit in the U.K.), "Hysteria" (#10, 1988), "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (#2, 1988), "Love Bites" (#1, 1988), "Armageddon It" (#3, 1988), and "Rocket" (#12, 1989).

Though longtime fans and some critics found it disappointingly poppish, on the verge of bubblegum, that change in direction no doubt contributed to it selling over 16 million copies worldwide and topping the U.S. LPs chart for six weeks. Tragedy struck the group again when on January 8, 1991, guitarist Steve Clark died of a fatal mixture of drugs and alcohol. Beginning in 1982, he had undergone treatment for his alcoholism several times. His addiction was so disabling that Phil Collen had done most of the leads on Hysteria, and later the group forced Clark to take a lengthy sabbatical. Once in 1989, after being found comatose in a gutter, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, but he seemed beyond help. The group continued recording and even made the video for "Let's Get Rocked" as a foursome. Clark's replacement, Vivian Campbell, who had previously played with Ronnie James Dio and Whitesnake, joined in 1992, weeks after the release of Adrenalize.

Another #1 LP, Adrenalize spawned a flurry of hit singles: "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" (#12, 1992), "Let's Get Rocked" (#15, 1992), "Make Love Like a Man" (#36, 1992), and "Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)" (#34, 1992). Retro Active (#9, 1993), a platinum collection of B sides, rarities, and covers, yielded the hit singles "Two Steps Behind" (#32, 1994) (also on the Last Action Hero soundtrack) and "Miss You in a Heartbeat" (#39, 1994). The album also included one Mick Ronson song, "Only After Dark." As the band wanted to explore new directions on its next studio album, it decided to release a greatest-hits collection before embarking on the next stage of its career; Vault (#15, 1995) went on to sell close to 2 million copies.

Unfortunately its successor, Slang, which added industrial and even touches of soul to the musical mix, did not fare as well and peaked at #14. The band retreated to its classic '80s pop-metal style on Euphoria (#11, 1999). Portions of this biography appeared in The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001). Def Leppard Biography (Rock Band) Birthplace: Sheffield, England Best known as: Heavy metal hitmakers ("Rock of Ages") The heavy metal band Def Leppard was formed in Sheffield, England in 1977; founding members included lead singer Joe Elliot (b. 1 August 1959), bassist Rick Savage (b. 2 December 1960) and guitarist Pete Willis. Drummer Rick Allen (b. 1 November 1963) and guitarist Steve Clark (b. 23 April 1960) joined the band shortly thereafter. Their debut album On Through the Night (1980) was a hit and Def Leppard joined groups like AC/DC and Ted Nugent among the heavy hitters of arena rock.

Their 1983 album Pyromania (and its single "Rock of Ages") made them early stars of MTV. They kept playing through the 1980s and 1990s, emerging as elder statesmen of rock as the 21st century began. Their other albums include Hysteria (1987, including the hit single "Love Bites") and Euphoria (1999). Extra credit: According to the band’s official bio, their name was originally spelled Deaf Leopard… The band’s early producer, Robert “Mutt” Lange, later produced (and married) country star Shania Twain … Drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a 1984 traffic accident, but learned to drum one-armed and continued on with the band… Willis was fired for drunkenness during the 1980s and replaced by guitarist Phil Collen… Guitarist Steve Clark died in 1991 after mixing painkillers with liquor; he was later replaced by Vivian Campbell… Their hit “Pour Some Sugar On Me” was covered in 2001 by singer Emm Gryner .

Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. Advertisement Advertisement Def Leppard News - Rick Allen's 1984 Car Accident 30th Anniversary - Part One Rick Allen's 1984 Car Accident 30th Anniversary - Part One Wednesday, 31st December 2014 Screenshot by dltourhistory Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash 30 years ago today on New Year's Eve 1984. Read part one of his story. Rick, who turned 51 this year, was driving back from the Ladybower Reservoir outside of Sheffield, England on the A57 road with girlfriend Miriam Barendsen when he was involved in an accident. Rick lost control of his left hand drive Corvette and hit a wall. His seatbelt came undone and took off his left arm as he was thrown through the sunroof. Luckily a local nurse and a policeman passing by stopped to help. According to Phil Collen in 2013 the pair later married each other (they both appeared in the 1998 Behind The Music show).

Surgeons managed to reattach the arm but sadly on 4th January 1985 it had to be amputated. He left hospital on 29th January 1985 and was back with the band at Wisseloord Studios in Holland on 22nd February. Rick managed to recover to play drums again within 3 months of his accident and has continued to be the drummer with Def Leppard to the present day. Read Part One of excerpts from the Animal Instinct biography telling the story of the accident. Plus a thank you note written by Rick to fans in early 1985 and a quote by Rick from earlier this month. The Accident - Animal Instinct Biography 1987 Quotes "Flash bastard!" Two men sat in their Alfa Romeo, waiting to make a left turn on to the A57 road to Sheffield, when they saw the shiny black 1984 Corvette Stingray zip by on the main road. They didn't see who was actually at the wheel, but they were certain this guy was some kind of jerk. Burning rubber like that in a fancy American sports car that would have cost any decent working-class Englishman over a year's wages - whoever Mr.

Corvette was, he deserved a good scare. Rick Allen had no idea there was another car behind his new Corvette until the Alfa Romeo came roaring past him on a bridge. Rick had been out for a pleasant afternoon spin with his girlfriend, Miriam Barendsen, enjoying the lush green glow of the English countryside west of Sheffield on an unseasonably warm New Year's Eve. Rick had even opened up the Stingray's sunroof to soak up the sunshine and fresh air on the way back to Sheffield. Miriam was spending the Christmas holidays with Rick's family before she and the twenty-one-year old drummer returned to Holland where he was in the middle of recording a new album with his band Def Leppard. That afternoon, the two of them had nothing on their minds but the gorgeous weather, the promise of some jolly new Year's Eve festivities and the brand new year ahead of them. The Alfa Romeo brought them out of their reverie - fast. Once the Alfa Romeo passed them, instead of letting the Stingray just eat his exhaust, the driver slowed up. Rick's temper started to get the better of him. He was out for a pleasure cruise, not a game of chicken.

Rick tried to pass the Alfa a couple of times with no luck. This went on for almost four miles. The Rick found an opening and pulled up alongside the Alfa. For a brief moment, Rick was window-to-window with the two punks, evil grins growing in twisted upward curves on their faces as they dangerously edged their Alfa closer to the Corvette, practically trying to push Rick and Miriam right off the road. Rick was really mad now. He hit the accelerator and the Corvette took off at Indy 500 velocity. But with the sudden rush of speed and the disadvantage of driving an American left-hand drive vehicle on an English road, Rick didn't see the left-hand curve up ahead until it was too late. The Stingray whipped around the corner and hit a brick wall, taking a lot of the bricks with it as the car skidded along the wall, flipped over and finally landed on its roof. The Alfa Romeo took off like a shot. Police later questioned two men in connection with the accident, but they denied everything. Miriam was trapped in the passenger seat. Rick, thrown free of the car, was in a field on the other side of the brick wall.

Though he had landed on his head, a decade of playing rock & roll drums for a living had already exacted its quota of brain damage. But his left arm had been ripped off at the shoulder. Within two minutes of the accident, a nurse [Doreen Billington] who lived nearby was tending to his injuries. Another nurse, who was passing by in her car, pulled over and bandaged his shoulder where the arm had been severed. The nurses, who later declined to be identified, also found the arm and packed it in a bucket of ice until the ambulance team arrived. Miriam, badly bruised, was helped out of the car and comforted at a nearby house. Less then twenty minutes after the accident, Rick Allen was in the casualty ward at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, under heavy sedation. Later, though, he would recall being completely conscious in those first few minutes after the crash. Standing in that field on the precipice of total shock, suddenly realizing his left arm was no longer attached to his body, he screamed out to Miriam, "God, I'll never play drums again!".

Read Part Two - Here Rick Allen - December 2014 Interview Quote - Watch Video "It was obviously an awful time you know losing my arm, especially being a drummer. But honestly it's really become a blessing. It's something that I've been able to share with others. Especially some of our wounded warriors and just being able to share my life experience and inspire others. What a great deal. You know it's really become something very special and it's something that's very healing to myself as well. Not only to the men and women that I work with but to me." Rick Allen Thank you note - From 1985 Fan Club Newsletter "Hello there, Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to the many people who wrote to me whilst in hospital, I must say that the letters & cards were a great comfort to me, and made my stay in hospital much more bearable. As for the future Def Leppard will carry on as before, and when the next album is complete we shall be back on the road ASAP. I've recently been working with my new drum kit, and so far everything is going really well, thanks for all your support, and I'll look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Sincerely, Rick Allen." Jeff Rich (Drummer) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Jeff Rich Male Born Jun 8, 1953 Jeff Rich also known as "Worzel" is an English rock drummer, best known as a former drummer for the English rock band, Status Quo. He attended school in Hackney at Upton House Comprehensive, and whilst there he appeared in the opera, Tosca at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He helped out Def Leppard in August 1986 and played alongside Rick Allen who had lost his left arm in a car accident in December 1984.… Read More related links Drummer Jeff Rich Brings Triple J Trio To Black Market Venue, Warsop Dispatch - Apr 13, 2015 ' Former Status Quo drummer Jeff âWorzelâ Rich performs with his latest outfit Triple J Trio at Black Market Venue, Warsop, on Friday, April 24.

' Researchers Recording The Sounds Of Yellowstone San Francisco Chronicle - Dec 01, 2013 ' (AP) â It may sound like the lead-in to a joke, but would a southern white-tailed deer have a different accent, maybe a drawl, from one that lives in Montana?\n\nArlitsch has helped launch a new website that the university is hosting, called Acoustic Atlas (acousticatlas.org).\n\nThe MSU site hosts a variety of sounds made by wildlife â including the kazoolike whine of a pika â as well as ambient sounds from nature such as a boiling geothermal feature in Yellowstone National Park.\n\nThe so... Let There Be Drums Huffington Post - Nov 01, 2013 'Born on this day 1 Nov in 1963, Rick Allen, drummer with Def Leppard, who had the 1987 worldwide No.1 album Hysteria, and the 1988 US No.1 single Love Bites. Allen lost his left arm in an accident after crashing his Corvette Stingray on the A57 outside Sheffield in England in 1984.

\nThe day that changed Allen\'s life forever happened on 31 December 1984 when the drummer was involved in a tragic accident. Formed in Sheffield in 1977, Def Leppard had enjoyed their best year ever. The group\'... Oakworks, Incorporated Is Recognized For Continued Support Of Stewartstown Lions Club âSwing For Sightâ Charity Focused On Improving And Preserving Eye Sight Yahoo News - Aug 31, 2012 'Medical equipment manufacturer CEO, Jeff Riach is recognized for continued support of Stewartstown Lions Club âSwing For Sightâ charity focused on improving and preserving eye sight.Stewartstown, PA (PRWEB) August 31, 2012 Oakworks CEO, Jeffrey Riach, was recently recognized by the Stewartstown Lions Club for his continuous support of Swing for Sight, a charity fundraiser of the Stewartstown Lions Club that supports ongoing involvement in improving and preserving eye sight.

...' Def Leppard Keeps Its One-Armed Drummer and Turns Tragedy into Hysteria Def Leppard Keeps Its One-Armed Drummer and Turns Tragedy into Hysteria Email Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott has to shout to be heard over the cheers that greet his introduction of drummer Rick Allen at a Denver concert. “Four years is a long time, and we’ve had our ups and downs,” he says. “But the biggest up, the greatest high was definitely the return of—THUNDER GOD!” With that, the crowd erupts in a roar, which proves once again that Rick Allen has triumphed to become rock’s most formidable, if not only, one-armed drummer. Indeed, when Allen lost his left arm in a New Year’s Eve, 1984, auto accident, playing the drums again seemed inconceivable. For a while, the accident appeared to forecast the end, too, of Def Leppard, whose 1983 LP, Pyromania, sold a spectacular 6 million copies.

Delayed by Allen’s convalescence and studio problems, the Leppards spent four years on the brink of Hysteria, their current album—which has sold nearly 4 million copies, spawned a pair of hit singles(“Animal” and “Hysteria”) and is still floating near the top of the charts after nine months. Even critics used to slagging the band have applauded their musical and medical comeback. “There are at least half a dozen heartwarming rock and roll stories,” ventured England’s usually cynical New Musical Express. “This is one of them.” The story begins horrifically. Allen and his girlfriend, Miriam Barendsen, were driving near his parents’ home in Sheffield, England, when he took a turn too fast. His black Corvette slammed into a stone wall and flipped over. Miriam escaped serious injury, but the impact severed Allen’s left arm at the shoulder and tore much of the flesh and muscle from his right. Doctors were able to save the right arm, but efforts to reattach the left failed. Yet after only four weeks in hospital and several more recuperating at his parents’ home, Allen returned to the recording studio, determined to pioneer the art of one-armed drumming.

While band mates played along with drum tracks recorded before the accident, Allen spent eight hours a day mastering a custom-built, electronic drum kit that allows him to keep left-handed beats with his feet. In fact, claims Allen, “It’s made me better just thinking about what I do a bit more.” What does he have trouble with? “Slicing bread and tying me shoes. And, occasionally, I do silly things like falling and not being able to stop myself.” Allen says he has had plenty of emotional support from his parents—”It’s wonderful to see their faces when I play,” he says—and girlfriend Miriam also has been steadfast. Says Allen: “She’s my best friend.” Although the band, for the collective good of the group, might have been justified in looking for a replacement, they didn’t. “He was our drummer,” says Elliott. “We never questioned that.” That loyalty comes from a shared background. Four of the Leppards—Elliott, 28, bassist Rick Savage, 27, guitarist Steve Clark, 28, and Allen, 25—hail from greater Sheffield and came together as a band in their teens.

The group scuffled through the local club scene, landed a contract with Polygram records in 1979 and released two LPs before guitarist Phil Collen, a Londoner, joined up in 1982. Polished by AC/DC producer Mutt Lange, the Def Leppard sound—a commercial mix of melody and metal—influenced such pop metal stars-to-be as Bon Jovi and Cinderella. “We’re really not a heavy metal band,” Clark insists. “I mean, we read. We can think.” And endure. Def Leppard’s staying power was put to the test when producer Lange dropped out in 1984. He returned in 1985, scrapped the work that had been done in his absence and started over. Hysteria was further delayed when Elliott got the mumps and again when Lange was hospitalized after a 1986 auto wreck. By then the band was so deeply in hock from production costs that accountants said they would have to sell 2 million copies of Hysteria just to break even. Ironically, Hysteria’s success means continued tax exile for all Leppards except Savage, who has a house in Sheffield.

“We don’t really relate to England anymore,” says Collen who, like Clark, is now a Parisian. Elliott lives near Dublin, while Allen and Miriam share a home in Amsterdam. Now so much time is spent on the road that Clark, who also owns a Manhattan apartment, says he has “had the place 15 months and spent five nights total in it. I own homes, but it’s not like I live in them.” But they’re not complaining. “We’ve grown up a lot in the last four years,” Elliott says. “Nothing seems like a big problem anymore. Jeez,” he adds, “if we can play with a one-armed drummer, we can do anything.” —By Steve Dougherty, with Lisa Russell in Denver Show Full Article Def Leppard biography | birthday, trivia | British Rock Band | Who2 Def Leppard Biography Rock Band The heavy metal band Def Leppard was formed in Sheffield, England in 1977; founding members included lead singer Joe Elliot (b. 1 August 1959), bassist Rick Savage (b. 2 December 1960) and guitarist Pete Willis. Drummer Rick Allen (b.

1 November 1963) and guitarist Steve Clark (b. 23 April 1960) joined the band shortly thereafter. Their debut album On Through the Night (1980) was a hit and Def Leppard joined groups like AC/DC and Ted Nugent among the heavy hitters of arena rock. Their 1983 album Pyromania (and its single “Rock of Ages”) made them early stars of MTV. They kept playing through the 1980s and 1990s, emerging as elder statesmen of rock as the 21st century began. Their other albums include Hysteria (1987, including the hit single “Love Bites”) and Euphoria (1999).

Extra credit According to the band’s official bio, their name was originally spelled Deaf Leopard… The band’s early producer, Robert “Mutt” Lange, later produced (and married) country star Shania Twain … Drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a 1984 traffic accident, but learned to drum one-armed and continued on with the band… Willis was fired for drunkenness during the 1980s and replaced by guitarist Phil Collen… Guitarist Steve Clark died in 1991 after mixing painkillers with liquor; he was later replaced by Vivian Campbell… Their hit “Pour Some Sugar On Me” was covered in 2001 by singer Emm Gryner . Def Leppard’s Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm Listeners Biography Def Leppard are an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldwide, including over 35 million in the United States alone. Rick Savage (bass), Pete Willis (guitar), and Tony Kenning (drums), all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1977. Following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus, 18-year old Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist. During his audition, however, it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. Soon afterward they adopted a name proposed by Elliott, "Deaf Leopard", which was originally a band name he thought up while writing reviews for imaginary rock bands in his English class. At Kenning's suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band. In January of 1978, Steve Clark joined the band. According to Joe Elliott, he successfully auditioned for the band by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" in its entirety.

In November, just prior to recording sessions for what would be a three-song release known as the Def Leppard EP, Kenning abruptly left the band. He was replaced for those sessions by Frank Noon. By the end of the month Rick Allen, then only 15 years old, had joined the band as its full-time drummer. Sales of the EP soared after the track "Getcha Rocks Off" was given extensive airtime by renowned BBC Radio DJ John Peel, considered at the time to be a champion of punk rock and new wave music. Throughout 1979, the band developed a loyal following among British hard rock/heavy metal fans and were even initially considered the leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (a status eventually claimed by Iron Maiden). Their growing popularity led to a record deal with the major label Phonogram/Vertigo (Mercury Records in the US). Def Leppard's debut album, On Through the Night, was released on March 14, 1980.

Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences by recording songs like "Hello America" and touring more in the US (supporting Pat Travers, AC/DC, and Ted Nugent). A performance at the Reading Festival in August (Iron Maiden also appeared) was marred when audience members expressed their displeasure by pelting the band with rubbish. The band had by then caught the attention of AC/DC producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who agreed to work on their second album, High 'n' Dry, released on July 11, 1981. Lange's meticulous approach in the studio helped them realize their potential. Despite the album's unimpressive sales figures, the "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" promo clip became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982, bringing the band increased visibility in the States. By the time the album was out, a European tour followed. The band opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Blackfoot.

Phil Collen, former guitarist with the glam band Girl, replaced Pete Willis, who was fired on July 11, 1982, due to excessive alcohol consumption on the job. (Willis would later resurface with the bands Gogmagog and Roadhouse.) This personnel change took place during the recording of their third album, Pyromania, which was released on January 20, 1983 and also produced by Lange. The lead single, "Photograph," turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson's "Beat It" as the most requested video clip on MTV and becoming a staple of rock radio (dominating the US Album Rock Charts for six weeks). It also hit #12 on the pop charts. Fueled by "Photograph" and subsequent singles "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'," Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year) and was held off the top of the US album charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller. The album has since been certified Diamond by the RIAA in the US.

Def Leppard's US tour in support of Pyromania began by opening for Billy Squier in March and ended with a headlining performance before an audience of 55,000 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CA in September. As a testament to the band's popularity at the time, a US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted as favourite rock band over peers such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. However, this popularity was not matched in their native England, a fact that greatly bothered them. Following their breakthrough, the band moved to Dublin in February 1984 for tax purposes to begin writing the follow-up to Pyromania. Mutt Lange initially joined in on the songwriting sessions but then suddenly declined to return as producer due to exhaustion. Instead, Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell fame) was brought in. On December 31, 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash on the A57 in the hills outside Sheffield when his speeding Corvette swerved off the road on a sharp bend and went through a drystone wall.

Despite the severity of the accident, Rick was committed to continuing his role as Def Leppard's drummer. He practiced drumming with pillows and realized that he could use his legs to do some of the drumming work previously done with his arms. He then worked with Simmons to design a custom electronic drum kit. The other members of the band supported Allen's recovery and never sought a replacement. During this period, Mutt Lange eventually returned to the fold as producer, and Allen's triumphant comeback was sealed at the 1986 Donington Monsters of Rock festival with an emotionally charged ovation after his introduction by Joe Elliott. Def Leppard's fourth album, Hysteria, was finally released on August 3, 1987. The second single from the album, "Animal," reached #6 in the UK and finally turned the band into stars in their home country. Hysteria immediately topped the charts in its first week of release. US album sales were relatively slow (compared to Pyromania) until the fourth single, "Pour Some Sugar on Me." The song hit Number 2, and Hysteria finally reached the top of the US Album Charts in July 1988.

The "Pour Some Sugar on Me" video was #1 on Dial MTV for a record 73 days (from May 26-September 5, 1988). In October, the power ballad "Love Bites" would become Def Leppard's first (and only) Number One single on the Billboard Hot 100, and in January 1989, the band scored another US Top 5 hit with "Armageddon It." Hysteria is one of only a handful of albums (and the third in rock history) that has charted seven singles or more on the US Hot 100: "Women" (#80), "Animal" (#19), "Hysteria" (#10), "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (#2), "Love Bites" (#1), "Armageddon It" (#3), and "Rocket" (#12). It remained on the charts for three years and has sold 18 million copies worldwide.

Equally successful was the accompanying Hysteria World Tour, which ran for 15 months and saw Def Leppard perform "In The Round." The concept proved wildly popular with fans, as evidenced in the videos for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Armageddon It" (and was later used again for the Adrenalize tour). In 1989, Def Leppard won Favorite Heavy Metal Artist, as well as Favorite Heavy Metal Album (for "Hysteria") during the American Music Awards. It was the first time that a heavy metal category was added to the awards show. (The category has since been deleted.) By the end of the decade, although Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, and Bon Jovi had garnered more mainstream exposure, Def Leppard had sold more records than any rock band in the US during the '80s, except Van Halen and Journey. Following Hysteria, the band quickly set out to work on their fifth album, hoping to avoid another lengthy gap. However, Steve Clark's alcoholism worsened to the point that he was constantly in and out of rehab.

Recording sessions suffered from this distraction, and in mid-1990, Steve was granted a six-month leave of absence from the band. Clark never reached the end of his leave, dying from an accidental mix of prescription drugs and alcohol on January 8, 1991 in his London home. The remaining band members decided to carry on and recorded the album as a four-piece, with Collen mimicking Clark's style on his intended guitar parts. Def Leppard's fifth album, Adrenalize, was finally released on March 31, 1992. The album simultaneously entered at Number One on both the UK and US album charts, staying on the latter for 5 weeks. The first single, "Let's Get Rocked," was an instant smash hit, and its video was later nominated for Best Video of the Year at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

In April 1992, guitarist Vivian Campbell, formerly of Dio and Whitesnake, joined Def Leppard, making his "official" live debut with his band at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (although they had done a short "warm-up" tour of the UK and Europe to work out any kinks of playing to a live audience with a new member and new material after almost 3 years off). Adrenalize yielded six hit singles and sold 7 million copies worldwide. Another world tour followed, but the band's fortunes began to be affected by the rise of grunge and alternative rock. A collection of b-sides and unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1993, called Retro Active, was released in October 1993, preceded by the success of "Two Steps Behind" (from the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero). Another single, "Miss You In A Heartbeat", hit the Top 5 in Canada, becoming one of their biggest hits there. Retro Active has sold 3 million copies worldwide to date.

Two years later, Def Leppard issued their first greatest hits collection, Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995), which has sold 8 million copies worldwide. Alternate track listings of the album were issued for North America, the UK, and Japan. The compilation included a new track, the ballad "When Love & Hate Collide," which became their biggest ever hit in the UK, hitting #2. It peaked at #58 in the U.S. On October 23, 1995, the band entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing three concerts in three continents in one day (Tangiers, Morocco; London, England; and Vancouver, Canada). Slang, released in May 1996, marked a drastic musical departure for the band by featuring darker lyrics and a stripped-down alternative rock edge. The US audience reception for Slang and its subsequent tour was a major dropoff from a decade earlier, but Q Magazine would nonetheless list Slang as one of the Top Ten Albums of 1996.

This album was the first recorded performance of Rick Allen playing a semi-acoustic drum kit since his accident, and not his electronic set as was first used with Hysteria. VH1 revived the band's fortunes in the US in 1998 by featuring them on one of the first episodes of Behind The Music. Reruns of the episode yielded some of the series' highest ratings and brought the band's music back into the public consciousness (following years of burial by the alternative rock climate). The episode was even parodied on Saturday Night Live. In an effort to capitalise on this new momentum, Def Leppard returned to its classic sound with the 1999 album Euphoria. The first single, "Promises", reunited the band with Mutt Lange and hit the US Mainstream Rock charts at #1 for 3 weeks. The album was certified gold in the US and Canada. On September 5, 2000, Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard by their friend Brian May of Queen.

In 2001, VH1 produced and aired Hysteria - The Def Leppard Story, a biopic that included Anthony Michael Hall as Mutt Lange and Amber Valletta as Lorelei Shellist (Steve Clark's girlfriend). The docudrama covered the band's history between 1977 through 1988, recounting the trials and triumphs of Rick Allen and Steve Clark. The July 18 broadcast still produced some of the channel's highest-ever ratings and is available on DVD. Def Leppard's tenth album, simply titled X, was released in July 2002. It saw the band's musical direction moving more towards pop and further away from the band's hard rock roots. Although greeted with generally positive reviews, X quickly disappeared from the charts, ultimately becoming the band's least successful release. However, the accompanying tour played to the band's strongest audiences since Adrenalize. An expanded and updated best-of collection, Best Of, was released internationally in October 2004. The North America-only version, Rock Of Ages - The Definitive Collection, was released the following May.

Def Leppard would participate at the Live 8 show in Philadelphia and toured in the summer with Bryan Adams. 2005 also saw the band leave their longtime management team, Q-Prime, and sign with HK Management. On May 23, 2006, Def Leppard released an all-covers album titled Yeah!. The disc pays homage to classic rock songs of their childhood, originally recorded by ELO, Sweet, The Kinks, Blondie, and Badfinger among others. It debuted at #16 in the US, their tenth consecutive Top 20 album, and has scanned more than 140,000 copies to date. The band, along with Queen, Kiss, and Judas Priest, were the inaugural inductees of "VH1 Rock Honors" on May 31, 2006. During the show, The All-American Rejects paid homage to the band with a cover of "Photograph". Soon afterwards, they embarked on a successful US tour with Journey.

That October, Hysteria was re-released in a two-disc deluxe edition format, which combined the original album, remastered for the first time, with b-sides, remixes, and bonus tracks from single releases. Def Leppard began their "Downstage Thrust Tour", on June 29, which took them across the US and into Canada. Support bands were Foreigner and Styx. The band's new album, entitled Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, was released worldwide on April 28, 2008 and on April 30, 2008 in Japan. The album debuted at #5 on The Billboard 200 in America. The first single is entitled "Nine Lives" and features country singer Tim McGraw, who co-wrote the song with Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, and Rick Savage. A tour in support of the album began on March 27, 2008 in Greensboro, NC, with Styx and REO Speedwagon joining the band on US dates. The band also played several European rock festivals.

An arena tour of the UK took place in June in which the band co-headlined with Whitesnake and it was supported by US southern rockers Black Stone Cherry. The band then returned to Europe before coming back for a second leg of the UK tour in June. The first of these dates was at the Glasgow SECC on the 17th. Again they were be joined by Whitesnake; however hard rock band Thunder supported at some of these shows. Black Stone Cherry continued to support most of the dates, including some of the Thunder ones. The band announced that due to an upper respiratory tract infection affecting lead singer, Joe Elliott, they postponed the Canadian dates. Two more American shows were also cancelled due to a viral infection affecting Phil Collen. Def Leppard announced that the 6 shows that were cancelled during their USA/Canada leg of their world tour due to illnesses affecting Joe Elliott and Phil Collen would be rescheduled and played in August this year along with other locations. On June 11th, Def Leppard announced further dates for their 2008 World Tour. The extension will see them visit India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Whitesnake will continue to support Def Leppard for their Indian and Japanese dates.

Australian tour dates will feature Cheap Trick as support and local Australian, Melbourne based band The Galvatrons as second support. The AUS/NZ dates include 8 dates seeing them visit major capital cities as well as a few unlikely ones. Def Leppard, Cheap Trick and The Galvatrons will visit Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Wollongong and Canberra. Def Leppard are supported by The Galvatrons and Auckland band Jealous Itch in Auckland (NZ). On October 6, 2008 Def Leppard again were in Nashville, Tennessee, for the filming of CMT Crossroads with rising country star Taylor Swift. The pair switched playing and singing each other's songs in front of a small audience at the Acuff Theatre. Def Leppard is currently touring 41 US cities plus Toronto, Ontario, Canada during Summer 2009 with Poison and Cheap Trick, although similar in nature to the dual headline concept of Def Leppard/Whitesnake, Def Leppard/Journey and Def Leppard/Bryan Adams tours, on this tour, Def Leppard is the sole headliner (with Cheap Trick installed as the opening act, and Poison in the second slot).

On Sunday 14th June 2009 Def Leppard headlined Download Festival 2009, with Whitesnake and ZZ Top supporting them. During their performance Joe Elliott dedicated their entire show to Drummer Rick Allen, and they had told the audience that their appearance at Donington Park's Monsters Of Rock Festival in 1986 was Rick's first major show since he lost his arm and that day marked Def Leppard's re-birth as a result of the support they received from their audience. Their subsequent return to Donington Park for 2009's Download Festival marked a return to where the band had considered their spiritual home. What followed was yet another emotionally charged ovation from the 80,000 strong crowd as they threw their support for Rick Allen, lasting well over 5 minutes of their headlining performance. On June 16, Def Leppard performed on the CMT Music Awards with Taylor Swift.

Question: Drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in an accident but continued to perform with which band?
Answer: Def Leppard