Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, it has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitar, backing vocals). 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.
"Leppard" redirects here. For the animal, see Leopard.
Def Leppard
- Atomic Mass (1976–1977)
- Chemical Reactor (1977)
- Deaf Leopard (1977)
- Ded Flatbird (2013)
Sheffield, England
1976–present
- Tony Kenning
- Pete Willis
- Steve Clark
The band's first album, 1980's On Through the Night, reached the Top 15 in the UK but received little notice elsewhere. Their second album, 1981's High 'n' Dry, was produced by Mutt Lange, who helped them to define their melodic hard rock style. The album's most popular track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982, but the album reached only the Top 30 and 40 in the UK and US. Their next studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983, with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" both topping the US Rock Tracks chart and reaching the top 20 of the Hot 100. Reaching No. 2 on the US album chart, Pyromania was certified Diamond in the US. It reached the top 20 in the UK but did not sell much elsewhere.
The band's fourth album, the more pop-oriented Hysteria (1987), topped the UK, US, Canadian and Australian charts. It has been certified 12× platinum for sales in the US, selling over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.[1] It spawned six Top 20 US singles, including the US Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Love Bites", alongside "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (US No. 2), "Hysteria", "Armageddon It", "Animal" (at No. 6, the biggest UK hit), and "Rocket" (a Top 15 hit in many countries).
Their next studio album, Adrenalize (their first following the death of guitarist Steve Clark), reached No. 1 on the UK, US and Australian charts in 1992. It contained several hits, including the US Rock Tracks chart-topper "Let's Get Rocked", which became their biggest hit in several countries, including No. 2 in the UK. The third single, "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", was a Top 15 song in the US, UK and Canada. Adrenalize went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide. Their 1993 album, Retro Active, contained the acoustic Top 5 North American hit "Two Steps Behind". Their greatest-hits album Vault, released in 1995, featured the UK No. 2 hit "When Love & Hate Collide" and reached the Top 10 in several countries, going 5× platinum in the US. Beginning with Slang, Def Leppard released five albums between 1996-2008, with most usually reaching the Top 15 in several countries, including the UK, US and Canada. Their self-titled album, released in 2015, reached the Top 10 in several countries. Their newest studio album, Diamond Star Halos, was released in May 2022 and reached the Top 10 in the US, UK and Australia.
As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide,[2] and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification: Pyromania and Hysteria,[3] making them one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling more than 10 million copies in the US.[4][5] The band were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock"[6] and No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[7] They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.[8]
Side projects[edit]
Phil Collen played guitar, uncredited, on Sam Kinison's "Wild Thing" in 1988. The video featured members of bands such as Poison, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, Ratt, and Aerosmith.[154] Collen also produced and played on the 1991 album On the Edge by Australian band BB Steal.[155]
Joe Elliott sang lead vocals on two tracks on Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood's 1992 solo album, Slide on This. His then-wife Karla appeared in the videos for "Always Wanted More" and "Somebody Else Might". Various members of Def Leppard have played on tribute records for Jeff Beck, AC/DC, and Alice Cooper.
A fan of his local football club Sheffield United F.C., Elliott performed on two tracks to the soundtrack of the 1996 Sheffield-set motion picture, When Saturday Comes (featuring fellow Sheffield native Sean Bean as a star football player), the title track and an instrumental, "Jimmy's Theme".[156] Elliott sang and co-wrote the opening track, "Don't Look Down" on Mick Ronson's farewell album Heaven and Hull. A promotional video was issued for the song as well.[157]
Cybernauts was a side project consisting of Elliott and Collen teamed with members of The Spiders From Mars (David Bowie's former band), minus the late Mick Ronson. The group played several shows, covering Bowie's Ziggy Stardust-era songs and released one internet-only album (since deleted).[158]
Vivian Campbell has played with two side bands in recent years, Clock and the Riverdogs, and recorded a solo album, Two Sides of If, released in 2005. Campbell toured with Thin Lizzy in early 2011 before joining Def Leppard on their Mirrorball tour.[159]
Collen sings lead vocals and plays guitar in a side band called Man Raze with Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and former Girl bandmate Simon Laffy. They released their debut album Surreal in 2008 and a second album, PunkFunkRootsRock, in 2011.[160]
Joe Elliott founded and fronts the band Down 'n' Outz with members of The Quireboys. The band plays covers of Mott the Hoople and related artists such as British Lions and Ian Hunter. They have released two studio albums of covers, one of original material and one live album since their incarnation in 2009.[161]
Following the passing of Ronnie James Dio, Vivian Campbell reunited with the rest of the original Dio line-up with vocalist Andrew Freeman to form Last in Line. The band pays tribute to Dio by playing songs from their original tenure in the band and released an album titled Heavy Crown in February 2016.[162]
Joe Elliott, along with various other musicians including Glenn Hughes, Duff McKagan, Sebastian Bach, Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke and Steve Stevens formed a supergroup called Kings of Chaos, whose catalogue consists of songs by Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses and others. In 2012, Kings of Chaos recorded their version of Deep Purple's classic, "Never Before" featuring Elliott singing lead vocals. Kings of Chaos played Stone Fest in Australia along with a few dates in South America in 2013.[163]
Phil Collen formed a blues project by the name of Delta Deep with vocalist Debbi Blackwell Cook which released an eponymous debut in 2015.[164]
In October 2020, Joe Elliott and Phil Collen played on the Struts song, "I Hate How Much I Want You", part of their Strange Days album.[165]
Studio albums
