Def Leppard are an English rock band formed under the name Atomic Mass in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the new wave of British heavy metal. At the time of the band changing their name to Def Leppard, they consisted of bassist Rick Savage, lead singer Joe Elliott, guitarist Pete Willis and drummer Tony Kenning. The band currently consists of Savage and Elliott alongside drummer Rick Allen (since 1978) and guitarists Phil Collen (since 1982) and Vivian Campbell (since 1992).
Def Leppard evolved from Atomic Mass after vocalist Joe Elliott joined Atomic Mass in November 1977. The lineup of Elliott, drummer Tony Kenning, bassist Rick Savage, and guitarist Pete Willis was completed by the addition of guitarist Steve Clark in January 1978. [1] The band played their first show on 18 July of that year, before recording their first EP in the fall with session drummer Frank Noon after Kenning's departure.
With the drummer position open, Rick Allen joined the band. Def Leppard recorded On Through the Night and High 'n' Dry as the five-piece of Savage, Willis, Elliott, Clark, and Allen before Pete Willis was fired in July 1982. Phil Collen of Girl replaced Willis, and the band went on to the most commercially successful period of their career, the releases of Pyromania and Hysteria .
31 December 1984, Rick Allen was involved in a car crash which involved the loss of his arm. Despite his injury, he continued to drum with the band, playing his first post accident show in Cork on 5 August 1986 with Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich providing backup. [2]
On 8 January 1991, during a leave of absence from the band, guitarist Steve Clark was found dead in his home. Savage, Elliott, Allen, and Collen recorded their next album Adrenalize as a four-piece before Vivian Campbell joined as a second guitarist. The lineup of Def Leppard has not changed since Campbell joined the band on 15 April 1992, and is thus the longest standing lineup of the band since it began. The current lineup has released four compilations, three live albums, and seven studio albums, most recently Diamond Star Halos on 27 May 2022.
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Savage | 1977–present |
| all Def Leppard releases | |
| Joe Elliott |
| |||
| Rick Allen | 1978–present |
| all Def Leppard releases from On Through the Night (1980) to present | |
| Phil Collen | 1982–present |
| all Def Leppard releases from Pyromania (1983) to present | |
| Vivian Campbell | 1992–present | all Def Leppard releases from Retro Active (1993) to present | ||
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Kenning | 1977–1978 |
| none | |
| Pete Willis | 1977–1982 |
| all Def Leppard releases from The Def Leppard E.P. (1979) to Pyromania (1983) | |
| Steve Clark | 1978–1991 (his death) |
| ||
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Rich | August 1986 |
| Played alongside Rick Allen for the first live shows back since the 1984 accident that resulted in the loss of Allen's left arm. | |
| Sinéad Madden | 2012 | fiddle [3] | ||
| Steve Brown |
|
| Trixter guitarist Steve Brown stepped in for Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campell in 2014 and 2015 while Campbell underwent treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Brown also filled in for guitarist Phil Collen in May 2018 due to the birth of Collen's child. | |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Noon | 31 October 1978 | drums | The Def Leppard E.P. (1979) | |
| Chris Hughes | December 1979 | synthesizers | "Hello America" from On Through the Night [5] (1980) | |
| Robert John "Mutt" Lange |
|
| ||
| John Kongos | 1982 | keyboards | Pyromania [9] (1983) | |
| Thomas Dolby , credited as Booker T. Boffin | ||||
| Melvin Mortimer, credited as Stumps Maximus | 1987 | lead vocals | "Release Me" B-side from Hysteria singles (2009) | |
| Pete Woodroffe | 1991–1996 |
| ||
| John Sykes | 1991 | backing vocals | Adrenalize [6] (1992) | |
| Phil "Crash" Nicholas | keyboards | "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" from Adrenalize [6] (1992) | ||
| P.J. Smith | April 1992 | backing vocals | "Action" from Retro Active [7] (1993) | |
| Michael Kamen (died 2003) | April 1993 | string arrangement | "Two Steps Behind" from Retro Active [7] (1993) | |
| Ian Hunter | 1993 |
|
| |
| Fiachna Ó Braonáin | March 1992 | tin whistle |
| |
| Liam Ó Maonlaí | grand piano | |||
| Peter O'Toole | mandolin | |||
| Stevie Vann |
|
|
| |
| Craig Pruess | 1996 | string and percussion arrangement | "Turn to Dust" from Slang [10] (1996) | |
| Gavyn Wright | string leader | |||
| Av Singh | dohl | |||
| Ram Naravan | Sarangi | intro for "Turn to Dust" from Slang [10] (1996) | ||
| Shyam Vatish | outro for "Turn to Dust" from Slang [10] (1996) | |||
| Damon "Demon" Hill | 1998–1999 | guitar | end solo on "Demolition Man" from Euphoria [8] (1999) | |
| Stan Schiller | 2002 | shredding tele licks on "Gravity" from X [13] (2002) | ||
| Eric Carter |
|
| ||
| John "Bro" Campbell | 2003–2005 | saxophone |
| |
| Justin Hawkins | backing vocals | "Hell Raiser" from Yeah! [11] (2006) | ||
| Anita Thomas-Collen | "The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll" from Yeah! [11] (2006) | |||
| Kristine Elliott | ||||
| Ronan McHugh | mellotron | "Drive-In Saturday" and "Little Bit of Love" from Yeah! [11] (2006) | ||
| Emm Gryner |
| "The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll" from Yeah! [11] (2006) | ||
| Marc Danzeisen |
| "American Girl" from Yeah! [11] (2006) | ||
| Tim McGraw | 2008 | lead vocals | "Nine Lives" from Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008) | |
| Dick Decent | 2011 |
| "Kings of the World" from Mirror Ball – Live & More [14] (2011) | |
| Ronan McHugh |
|
|
| |
| Debbi Blackwell-Cook | backing vocals | |||
| Dave Bassett | 2022 | "Kick" and "Fire It Up" Diamond Star Halos (2022) [16] | ||
| Alison Krauss | lead vocals | "This Guitar" and "Lifeless" from Diamond Star Halos (2022) [16] | ||
| Mike Garson | piano | Goodbye for Good This Time" and "Angels (Can't Help You Now)" from Diamond Star Halos (2022) [16] | ||
| Eric Gorfain | string arrangements | "This Guitar", "Goodbye for Good This Time" and "Angels (Can't Help You Now)" from Diamond Star Halos (2022) [16] | ||
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Mackley | July–October 1977 | vocals | |
| Paul Hampshire | July–September 1977 | bass | |
| Pete Doubleday | July–August 1977 | guitar | |
| Andy Nicholas | September–October 1977 | bass | |
| Paul Holland | October 1977 | vocals | |
| Period | Members | Releases |
|---|---|---|
| July – Early August 1977 (Atomic Mass) |
| none |
| Early – 10 August 1977 (Atomic Mass) |
| |
| 10 August – September 1977 (Atomic Mass) |
| |
| September – Early October 1977 (Atomic Mass) |
| |
| Early – 25 October 1977 (Atomic Mass) |
| |
| 25 October 1977 – 29 January 1978 (Atomic Mass/Deaf Leopard/Def Leppard) |
| |
| 29 January – 31 October 1978 (Def Leppard) |
| |
| 31 October – 1 November 1978 (Def Leppard) |
|
|
| 1 November 1978 – 11 July 1982 (Def Leppard) |
|
|
| 11 July 1982 – 8 January 1991 (Def Leppard) |
| |
| 8 January 1991 – 15 April 1992 (Def Leppard) |
|
|
| 15 April 1992 – Present (Def Leppard) |
|
|
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage, Joe Elliott, Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen, and Vivian Campbell. They established themselves as part of the new wave of British heavy metal of the early 1980s. Their greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and early 1990s.
Pyromania is the third studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983 through Vertigo Records in UK and Europe and through Mercury Records in the US. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, Pyromania was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's traditional heavy metal roots toward a more radio-friendly sound, finding massive mainstream success. Pyromania charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, No. 4 on the Canadian RPM Album chart and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. Selling over ten million copies in the US, it has been certified diamond by the RIAA.
High 'n' Dry is the second studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 6 July 1981. High 'n' Dry was Pete Willis' last full-time album with Def Leppard. It charted at No. 38 on the Billboard 200 and No. 26 on the UK Albums Chart. "High 'n' Dry ", ranked No. 33 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. Following the success of Pyromania, the album re-entered in the US chart and reached No. 72 in 1983.
Hysteria is the fourth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 3 August 1987 by Phonogram Records. The album is the follow-up to the band's 1983 breakthrough Pyromania (1983). Hysteria's creation took over three years and was plagued by delays, including the aftermath of drummer Rick Allen's accident that cost him his left arm on 31 December 1984. Subsequent to the album's release, Def Leppard published a book titled Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story, written by Rolling Stone magazine senior editor David Fricke, on the three-year recording process of Hysteria and the difficult times the band endured through the mid-1980s. Lasting 62 minutes and 32 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album to date.
Adrenalize is the fifth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 31 March 1992 through Mercury Records. It is the first album by the band recorded without guitarist Steve Clark, who died in 1991, although most songs were written and partially demoed before his death, they were re-recorded solo by Phil Collen in 1991-1992. It is the only album recorded by Def Leppard as a four-member band. Spawning seven singles, four of them – "Let's Get Rocked", "Make Love Like a Man", "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", and "Stand Up " – were major hits.
Slang is the sixth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 May 1996. The album marked a musical departure from their signature sound; it was produced by the band with Pete Woodroffe and was their first album since 1980 without involvement by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Slang is the first album with new material to feature new guitarist Vivian Campbell. It charted at #14 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It is also the only Def Leppard album that does not feature their recognisable font logo on the album cover, though all its singles still bore the classic logo.
X is the eighth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 30 July 2002 by Island Records in the US and sister label Mercury worldwide. Much like 1996's Slang, it featured another departure from their signature sound by moving into the pop genre. The album charted at No. 11 on The Billboard 200 and No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart. Most of the album was produced by Pete Woodroffe and the band, with remaining tracks produced by either Marti Frederiksen or Per Aldeheim and Andreas Carlsson.
Retro Active is a compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band's recording sessions from 1984 to 1993. The album charted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.
Stephen Maynard Clark was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". In 2019, Clark was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Def Leppard.
Philip Kenneth Collen is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard. Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of the Pyromania album. Before joining Def Leppard, Collen had performed with a number of bands in the burgeoning British glam metal scene. Outside of Def Leppard, he has been involved in a number of side projects; those projects include the trio Man Raze, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist.
Peter Andrew Willis is an English guitarist, best known as a founder member of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He was with Def Leppard from 1977 to 1982, when he was fired from the band and replaced by Phil Collen due to drinking problems.
Richard Savage is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Def Leppard. Savage and lead singer Joe Elliott are the only two remaining original members of the band. With drummer Rick Allen, they are also the only members who have performed on every album.
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) is the first greatest hits album and the second compilation album by English hard rock band Def Leppard. The album was originally released in the band's home country on 23 October 1995 by Mercury Records. It was released in North America a week later on 31 October by the same label. Vault went on to be certified gold in four countries, platinum in three and multi-platinum in two. In the US, the album is currently certified 5× platinum by the RIAA, and in June 2011 it topped the five million mark in sales there. It won Metal Edge magazine's 1995 Readers' Choice Award for "Best Hits or Compilation Album."
"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. When issued as a single in the United States, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #1 on the Top Tracks Rock chart.
"Photograph" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. It is the lead single from the band's third studio album, Pyromania (1983). Their lead vocalist Joe Elliott has described the song as generally about "something you can't ever get your hands on". When released as a single it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart, where it stayed for six weeks, and No. 12 on the Pop Singles chart.
"Too Late for Love" is a 1983 power ballad by English band Def Leppard from their Diamond album Pyromania. When released as a single, it reached #9 on the Mainstream Rock charts.
"When Love & Hate Collide" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard from their 1995 greatest hits album Vault, written by Joe Elliott and Rick Savage. The power ballad was originally written and demoed for Adrenalize, but not finalized until 1995 for its inclusion on Vault. The demo version is much more heavily produced in the signature style of Hysteria and Adrenalize, and the final version is more stripped down, supposedly toward the style of the following studio album Slang. The original demo version contains the final recorded guitar solo by late original guitarist Steve Clark.
"Women" is a song released by English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the second overall but first single of the album released in the United States. The song was also released as a single in Canada, Australia, Japan, and was part of a double-A side single with "Animal" in Germany. In most other parts of the world, "Animal" was the first single released from the album.
The Adrenalize World Tour – also known as the Adrenalize "Seven Day Weekend" Tour – was a concert tour by English hard rock band Def Leppard to support the Adrenalize album, released in March 1992. It was their first tour without guitarist Steve Clark, who died in January 1991 while the album was recorded. Former Dio and Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell joined six weeks before the tour began.
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