Def Leppard

Def Leppard
Hardcore metal band Def Leppard formed in Sheffield, England in 1977 comprised of lead singer Joe Elliot, bassist Rick Savage, with Drummer Rick Allen and guitarist Steve Clark joining the band shortly afterwards.

Def Leppard are one of only five rock bands with two original albums selling over 10 million copies each in the U.S. The others are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and Van Halen.

According to the band's history, their name was originally spelled Deaf Leopard. The ultimate hard rock band emerged in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Their sound was inspired by T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Queen, and Led Zeppelin.They started off playing in local Sheffield pubs, and within a year they had added guitarist Steve Clark, as well as a new drummer. Later in 1978, the recorded their debut EP, Getcha Rocks Off, and released it on their own label, Bludgeon Riffola. The EP became a word-of-mouth success, earning airplay on the BBC. The group members were still in their teens.

After the release of Getcha Rocks Off, Rick Allen became the band's permanent drummer, and Def Leppard rapidly became the subject of the British music scenario. Soon, they signed with AC/DC's manager, Petter Mensch, who helped them win a contract with Mercury. The band's full-length debut On Through the Night was released in 1980 and immediately became a hit in the U.K., also in the U.S., where it reached no#51 on the charts. Following that Def Leppard toured Britain and America, including opening slots for Ozzy Osbourne, Sammy Hagar, and Judas Priest. High 'n' Dry followed in 1981, and it became the group's first platinum album in the U.S., thanks to MTV's strong rotation of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak." MTV would be vital to the band's success in the '80s.

Pete Willis was fired for drunkenness during the 80s and swapped by guitarist Phil Collen. The 1983's Pyromania, became an astonishing chartbuster, due not only to Def Leppard's skillful, melodic metal, but also to MTV's relentless airing of "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages." Pyromania went on to sell ten million copies, establishing Def Leppard as one of the most popular bands in the world. In an unfortunate accident Rick Allen lost his left arm. The arm was reattached, but it had to be amputated once an infection set in. Allen began learning to play a custom-made electronic kit assembled for him by Simmons. Soon, the band resumed recording. The recording continued throughout 1986, and that summer, the group returned to the stage for the European Monsters of Rock tour. Def Leppard finally completed their fourth album, now titled Hysteria, early in 1987, releasing it that spring to lukewarm reviews; many critics felt that the album compromised Leppard's metal roots for sweet pop flourishes. The record was slow out of the starting gates -- "Women," the first single, failed to really take hold. But with the second single, "Animal," Hysteria began to take off. It became the group's first Top 40 hit in the U.K., but more importantly, it began a string of six straight Top 20 hits in the U.S., which also included "Hysteria," "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Love Bites," "Armageddon It," and "Rocket," the latter of which arrived in 1989, a full two years after the release of Hysteria. During those two years, Def Leppard was unavoidable -- they were the kings of high-school metal, ruling the pop charts and MTV, and teenagers and bands alike replicated their teased hair and ripped jeans, even when the grimy hard rock of Guns N' Roses took hold in 1988.

Hysteria proved to be the peak of Leppard's popularity, yet their follow-up remained eagerly awaited in the early '90s as the band set to work on the record. During the recording, Steve Clark died from an overdose of alcohol and drugs. Following Clark's death, Def Leppard resolved to finish their forthcoming album as a quartet, releasing Adrenalize in the spring of 1992. Adrenalize was greeted with mixed reviews, and even though the album debuted at number one and contained several hit singles, including "Let's Get Rocked," "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad," and "Make Love Like a Man," the record was a commercial disappointment in the wake of Pyromania and Hysteria. After the release of Adrenalize, the group added former Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell.

In 1993, Def Leppard released the rarities collection Retro Active, featuring a new single, "Miss You in a Heartbeat," which scraped the lower reaches of the Top 40. Two years later, the group released the greatest-hits collection Vault while preparing their sixth album. Slang arrived in the spring of 1996, and while it was more adventurous than its predecessor, it was greeted with indifference, proving that Leppard's heyday had indeed passed, and they were now simply a very popular cult band. Undaunted, Leppard soldiered on, returning to their patented pop-metal sound for Euphoria, which was released in June of 1999. Despite a hard push from both band and label, the record failed to produce a hit, resulting in a return to adult pop balladry on 2002's X. The two-disc Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection arrived in 2005, followed in 2006 by Yeah!, a collection of covers.

Def Leppard are one of only five rock bands with two original albums selling over 10 million copies each in the U.S. The others are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and Van Halen.