Def Leppard

It has been certified 12× platinum for sales in the US, selling over 30 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the best-selling albums  of all time. It spawned six Top 20 US singles, including the US Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Love Bites". Singles also included "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (US No. 2), "Hysteria", "Armageddon It" (US No. 3), "Animal" (at No. 6, the biggest UK hit), and "Rocket" (a Top 15 hit in many countries).

Steve Clark died from respiratory failure caused by a lethal mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs. in 1991, with the band recording their next studio album, Adrenalize, as a four-piece. The album reached No. 1 on the UK, US and Australian charts in 1992. It contained several hits, including the Billboard 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 10 song in the US, UK a nd Canada. Adrenalize went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide. Vivian Campbell joined the band soon after the album's completion. Their 1993 album, Retro Active, contained the acoustic Top 5 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 and 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, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification: Pyromania and Hysteria, making them one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling more than 10 million copies in the US. The band were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, and Pete Doubleday, all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1976. Pete Willis joined in 1977, departing briefly but returning full time. The band originally consisted of Pete Doubleday (and later Pete Willis) on guitar, Rick Savage on bass guitar after briefly playing guitar, Tony Kenning on drums, Andy Nicholas on bass and Nick Mackley on lead vocals.

Other members to come and go were Paul Holland (vocals), Melanie Davis (guitars, keyboards, violin, bass), Paul Hampshire (lead guitar) and Nick Hawnt (vocals). Only 18 at the time, Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist following a chance meeting with Pete Willis after missing a bus in November 1977. During his audition it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. The band's initial rehearsals took place at Portland Works,

and their first gig was in the dining hall in A Block in Westfield School in Mosborough, Sheffield.

Joe Elliott proposed the name "Deaf Leopard" which was originally a band name he thought of while designing band posters in art class. At Kenning's suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified to make the name seem less like that of a punk band. In January 1978, Steve Clark joined the band. According to Joe Elliott, he successfully auditioned for the band by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in its entirety.

In November, just prior to recording sessions for a three-song release known as The Def Leppard E.P., Tony Kenning abruptly left the band; he later formed the band Cairo. 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 BBC Radio 1 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 and Heavy metal fans and were considered among the leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Their growing popularity led to a record deal with the major label Phonogram/Vertigo (Mercury Records in the US). Def Leppard's original management, MSB, a local duo consisting of Pete Martin and Frank Stuart-Brown, were fired after Martin and Joe Elliott got into a fistfight over an incident on the road. The band approached Peter Mensch of Leber-Krebs management, who had booked them on a tour of the UK supporting AC/DC. Mensch, who admitted that he had had his eye on the band, became their manager.

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 such as "Hello America" and touring more in the US (supporting Pat Travers, AC/DC,

and Ted Nugent); a performance at the Reading Festival in August was marred when audience members expressed their displeasure by pelting the band with beer cans and bottles filled with urine. This incident was partially blamed on a cover story in Sounds music newspaper by the journalist Geoff Barton titled, "Has the Leppard changed its spots?", accusing the band of selling out to the American market. In a documentary on the band recorded for BBC 2, Barton recalls feelings of guilt over the story and having a "stand-up row" with the band's manager, Mensch, backstage at the show.

In the documentary series Metal Evolution, Joe Elliott says that the media had exaggerated the event and all bands on the day had experienced 'abuse' from the crowd.

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 6, 1981. Lange's meticulous approach in the studio helped them begin to define their sound. Despite the album's unimpressive sales figures (it only peaked at number 26 in the UK and 38 in the US), the band's video for "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982, bringing the band increased visibility in the US. The band continued to use the up-and-coming music television industry to reach fans over the years with their unique videos and the extravagance of their concerts. After the album's release, European and American tours followed. The band opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Blackfoot.

On July 11, 1982, Pete Willis was fired due to excessive alcohol consumption on the job and was replaced by Phil Collen of Girl the next day. This personnel change took place during the recording of their third album, Pyromania, which was released on January 20, 1983 and also produced by Robert Lange. The cover artwork depicted a cartoon image of a huge flame emerging from the top floor of a skyscraper, with a bullseye aimed at the flame.

The lead single, "Photograph", turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson's "Beat It" as the most requested video on MTV and becoming a staple of rock radio (holding the number 1 position on the US Album Rock Track Chart for six weeks), and sparked a headline tour across the US. The second single, 'Rock of Ages, also reached number 1 on the Rock Tracks chart, with both singles reaching the Top 20 of the Hot 100 ("Photograph" number 12 and "Rock of Ages" number 16), unusual for hard rock songs.

Fuelled by "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", and the third single "Foolin'", Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year) and was held from the top of the US charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller.

With the album's massive success, Pyromania was the catalyst for the 1980s Pop-metal movement. In 2004, Pyromania was certified Diamond having sold over 10 million copies in the US; it was also certified 7× platinum in Canada, where it had peaked at number 4, its second highest certification. With their music videos becoming a staple of MTV, Rolling Stone named them among the artists of the Second British Invasion. The Pyromania tour began in England at the  Marquee Club on Wardour Street, Soho, London in February 1983. Def Leppard's US tour in support of the album began in March opening for Billy Squier and ended with a headlining performance before an audience of 55,000 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California 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 The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. Pyromania was not as successful in their native UK where it reached number 18 on the album chart.

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. Jim Steinman of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell was brought in. However, Steinman worked only briefly with the band, and the recording work was not released.

On the afternoon of December 31, 1984, drummer Rick Allen was involved in a car accident on the A57 road in the 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; his left arm was severed. Doctors initially reattached the arm, but it was later amputated due to an infection.

Despite the severity of the accident, Rick Allen was committed to continuing his role as Def Leppard's drummer. Soon after, Allen realised 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 Rick Allen's recovery and never sought a replacement.

Rick Allen was placed in a separate studio to practice his new drums. After a few months, Allen gathered the band together and performed the intro to the Led Zeppelin version of "When the Levee Breaks" to showcase his progress to the band. Joe Elliott reports this as being a "very emotional moment". During this period, Mutt Lange returned as producer.

Def Leppard brought in Jeff Rich in August 1986 to play alongside Allen during Def Leppard's warm-up mini tour of Ireland. When Rich turned up late for a gig, he and the band realised Rick Allen could drum alone. Allen's comeback was sealed at the 1986 Monsters of Rock festival in England, with an emotionally charged ovation after his introduction by Joe Elliott. After over three years of recording, Def Leppard's fourth album, Hysteria, was released on August 3 1987.

One of the first singles from the album, "Animal", became the band's first Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. "Animal" also started their run of ten consecutive US  Billboard  Hot 100 Top 40 singles. The next single off Hysteria, its mid-tempo title track, became the band's first Top 10 single in the US, and, peaking at number 13, their highest-charting song in Canada to that date. Hysteria topped the UK Album Charts in its first week of release, and spent 105 weeks on the chart. Initial US album sales were relatively slow (compared to Pyromania) until the release of the fourth single, "Pour Some Sugar on Me". The song hit No. 2, on the Hot 100 and Hysteria finally reached the top of the  US Billboard 200 in July 1988. Although "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was not initially a big hit in other countries (number 18 in the UK, number 22 in Canada, and number 26 in Australia), it has come to be regarded as the band's signature song, and was ranked No. 2 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" in 2006. Hysteria also topped the album charts in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway, at No. 10, was their first album to chart in Germany, and was eventually certified Diamond in sales in the US and 13× Platinum in Canada.

The band's UK success saw them nominated for the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Group. In October 1988, the power ballad "Love Bites" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. About reaching No. 1 with "Love Bites", Joe Elliot reflected:

"It's strange because we’d been to No. 1 with the album. So now we wanted a No. 1 single because we'd never had one. So it was like, 'come on! come on!' When we got there, it was, as you can imagine, a 'yes!' moment." It was a Top 10 hit in several other countries, including reaching number six in Canada. In January 1989, the band scored another US Top five hit with "Armageddon It", and by spring of 1989 the final single "Rocket" was in the Top 15 in the US and several other countries. Wanting to give fans something new after the massive radio and video airplay for not only the seven singles but also the album tracks that radio DJ's were playing off the album, the band performed "Tear It Down", a Hysteria B-side at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.

Hysteria is one of only a handful of albums 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). Aside from "Women", these same songs all made the Top 25 on the UK Singles chart.

It remained on the charts for three years and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Equally successful was the accompanying 16-month Hysteria tour, in which the band performed in the round. This concept proved wildly popular with fans (as seen in the videos for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Armageddon It") and was used again for the Adrenalize tour.

At the 1989 Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Def Leppard were again a nominee for Best British Group, and the band performed "Pour Some Sugar on Me" at the ceremony. At the 1989 American Music Awards, Def Leppard won Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist, as well as Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album (for Hysteria).

Following Hysteria, the band quickly set out to work on their fifth album, hoping to avoid another lengthy gap. 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, Clark was granted a six-month leave of absence from the band. Clark died from a 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 Phil 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 number one on the latter for five weeks, while also reaching the summit on the Canadian and Australian charts and hitting No. 8 in Germany.

The first single, the anthemic "Let's Get Rocked", was an instant hit and remains the band's highest-charting song ever in several countries, including the UK (No. 2), Canada (No. 3), Australia (No. 6) and Germany (No. 22), while reaching No. 1 on the US Rock Tracks chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band performed the song at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards where it was nominated for  Best Video of the Year.

Like with Hysteria, several singles were released off Adrenalize, including the rocker "Make Love Like a Man", the ballad "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" and the mid-tempo "Heaven Is", each of which made the Top 15 in the UK, with "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" being the most successful track in Canada (No. 7) and on the US Hot 100 (No. 12) .

Another single, the mid-tempo "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)", was a hit in Canada, peaking at No. 11, and also reached No. 1 on the US Rock Tracks chart, edging out "Make Love Like a Man" (No. 3) as the second most successful track off the album on US rock radio.

In a period between late-1991 and early 1992, auditions for another guitarist commenced. Among the guitarists who auditioned included Adrian Smith, John Sykes, and Gary Hoey. Ultimately, the band chose Vivian Campbell in 1992, formerly of Dio and Whitesnake. In April 1992, Def Leppard appeared at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, London, performing a three-song set of "Animal", "Let's Get Rocked" and Queen's "Now I'm Here" with guitarist Brian May.

Joe Elliott later performed "Tie Your Mother Down" with the remaining members of Queen and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. Another world tour followed but the band's fortunes began to be affected by the rise of Alternative rock, including Grunge. Amidst the increasing popularity of alternative rock, the band decided to balance their original image as rebellious rock stars with a slightly friendlier energy, combining Heavy metal with melodies and hooks more reminiscent of Pop music. On June 6, 1993, Def Leppard performed the first ever rock concert at the Don Valley Stadium in their home city of Sheffield before an audience of over 50,000.

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 the acoustic ballad "Two Steps Behind" (from the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero). The song charted in many countries, reaching Top 5 in Canada and peaking at No. 12 in the US, where it was their last significant hit song. Another single from   Retro Active, "Miss You in a Heartbeat", was also successful in Canada (No. 19) while a cover of  Sweet's  "Action" was popular in the UK, reaching No. 14.

Retro Active made the Top 10 in the UK, US, and Canada and has sold 3 million copies worldwide to date. In 1995, Def Leppard issued their first greatest hits collection, Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995), which reached number 3 in the UK, Top 10 in several other countries, and eventually sold over 5 million copies in the US. Alternate track listings of the album were issued for North America, the UK, and Japan. The compilation included a new track, the power ballad "When Love & Hate Collide", which became their biggest ever hit in the UK, hitting No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, while also hitting No. 6 in Canada., their last major hit single in both countries, but barely charted in the US.

On October 23, 1995, the band entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing three concerts on three continents in one day (Tangiers, Morocco; Sheffield, 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 band rehearsed and played the songs together in the studio instead of recording parts separately, resulting in a much more live-sounding album. The US audience reception for Slang and its subsequent tour was a major drop-off from a decade earlier, although Q Magazine nonetheless listed Slang as one of their Top Ten Albums of 1996. The album only reached No. 14 on the US album chart, and although the track "Work It Out" reached No. 6 on the US Rock Tracks chart, neither it or any of the other singles released off the album charted on the Hot 100. For the first time, a Def Leppard studio album peaked higher in the UK than in the US as it hit No. 5 there, with two singles, the album's title track (No. 17), and "Work It Out" (No. 22) performing well on the UK singles chart. In Canada, "Work It Out" was a Top 10 single and while the album only peaked at No. 12, it eventually still went double platinum in sales.

VH1 revived the band's fortunes in the US in 1998 by featuring them on one of the first episodes of  Behind the Music. Re-runs 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 Track charts at No. 1 for three weeks although it did not receive much play on Top 40 radio; it was also a moderate hit in the UK and Canada.

Euphoria peaked at No. 11 in both the UK and US, and at No 14 in Germany, although it was less successful in Canada and Australia.

On September 5 2000, Def Leppard were inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk on 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 1986, recounting the trials and triumphs of Rick Allen and Steve Clark.

Def Leppard's eighth album, X, saw the band's musical direction moving more towards Pop and further away from the band's Hard rock roots. X ultimately became the band's least successful release, peaking at No. 11 on the US Billboard 200. No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart, No. 12 in Canada, and No. 19 in Germany. Its first single, "Now", reached the Top 30 in the UK and Canada but missed the US Hot 100, only reaching No. 26 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

An expanded and updated best-of collection, Best Of, was released internationally on October 25, 2004. The North America-only version, Rock of Ages—The Definitive Collection, was released May 17, 2005. Def Leppard participated at the Live 8 show in Philadelphia and toured in the summer with Bryan Adams. In 2005, the band left their long-time management team, Q-Prime, and signed 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 Blondie, The Kinks, Sweet, ELO, and Badfinger  among others. Their cover of "How Does It Feel" by Slade was used as a non-album B-side. It debuted at No. 16 in the US, their tenth consecutive Top 20 album. The band toured to promote the album with  Journey from June through November 2006 in Europe, the UK, and the US.

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 US tour with Journey. That October, Hysteria was re-released in a two-disc deluxe edition format, which combined the original remastered album with B-sides, remixes, and bonus tracks from single releases. Def Leppard began their Downstage Thrust Tour, on June 27, which took them across the US and into Canada.