Def Leppard may now be a super-huge mega-success, but they came from a humble beginning. A pair of young men named Rick Savage and Pete Willis got the "propostrous" notion that they could start a heavy meatal band. That year is infamous to real Lepp fans, 1978. The band they formed included guitarist Pete Willis, bass guitarist Rick Savage, part-time drummer Frank Noon, lead vocalist Joe Elliot, and one more guitarist. Let us focus on him for a moment.

Steve Clark and Pete Willis met on the street in Sheffield. Willis asked Clark to come and audition for Atomic Mass, later renamed Def Leppard. Steve gladly accepted, but missed the appointment. Later, Pete saw Steve again and asked him to audition once more. This time, he made it. Little did the band know what a treat they would be getting. When they showed him some of their songs, he joined them officially.

In 1979, Def Leppard released their first album. It was a fair success at just under 370,000 copies sold. this album, the Def Leppard EP, included three songs that established them as one of the bands on the front of a new generation of English rock artistsd. After that, they got rid of Frank Noon nad hired a 15-year-old drummer named Rick Allen.



Def Leppard had now made an establishment in England, but the big money was in America. Thus, the album On Through the Night was released, adding their name to American music store shelves. This album sold 1,000,000 copies. Now, they were really in the big time. Just a hint of their future popularity showed up here.




Robert John "Mutt" Lange produced the 1981 album High 'N' Dry. Though it also only sold 1,000,000 copies, Lange would eventually prove his importance in the band's success. "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" was the real first hit single. You'll see that proven Later on. Mutt returned for the next album, which really put the Lepps on top.


Pyromania, released in 1983, was the major breakout. 10,000,000 copies of this were sold. Lange co-wrote every song, which means that he must have been a very important part of this album and its success. Rolling Stone Magazine calls this Def Leppard's best album in the eighties as well as 62nd overall in the decade. Only Michael Jackson's Thriller outsold Pyromania in '83. The best was still to come.


Drummer Rick Allen was involved in a car accident soon afterwards. It caused the loss of his left arm. Only 2 months later, he was back with the band. He perfected a special drum set that allowed him to use his left leg instead of his left arm. That's the main reason why it took them four years to come out with the big success

Hysteria, the second album in the so-called "ia" trilogy to be finished this year, was released in 1987. Within 1 month, it was considered a flop. However, within a year it was one of the best-selling albums of all time. At 14,000,000 copies, this was their biggest success. In 1988, its tour was 3rd in grossing. This album included 6 American top ten singles, the song that M.T.V. called the 11th best in the eighties ("Pour Some Sugar On Me"), and much more.


They faced yet another setback after Hysteria. Steve Clark, who played guitars and co-wrote many of their songs, started drinking during the Hysteria tour. In 1990, he was found dead in his home. Only thirty-years-old, Steve died of an overdose of alcohol and prescription drugs.

2 men auditioned for the job of guitarist. The man that won previously played in Dio, Whitesnake, and many other bands. His name was Vivian Campbell. Vivian joined them immedeately after they made the album Adrenalize in 1992.

Adrenalize held the number 1 spot for 5 weeks, which was the longest run at number one for any album since Hysteria held it for 6 weeks. 7,000,000 copies of Adrenalize were sold, a major step back from Hysteria. "Let's Get Rocked" was #1 in Asia, #2 in the U.K. and #15 in America. It might have been their biggest hit song ever.


During the Adrenalize tour, they were approached by some men working on a movie called Last Action Hero starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The men asked the Lepps about giving them a song for the credits. Def Leppard didn't have the time to make a new song, so they sent over a B-side called "Two Steps Behind". Their co-producer announced that he would quit if it became a hit.

This song was released on the 1993 album named Retro Active composed entirely of old B-sides and 1 cover. "Two Steps Behind" became one of their best-selling singles of all time. This album also included the hit song "Miss You In A Heartbeat". It only sold 1.7 million copies, but it really wasn't supposed to be huge.


In 1995, they produced their greatest hits album, The Vault. "Bringing On The Heartbreak was the only pre-Pyromania song to make the album. "Two Steps Behind" made it as well. Incidentally, the co-producer didn't ever quit like he said he would. My favorite one of their songs, Photograph, also make it. During the tour, they set a world record by playing in 3 continents (Africa, Europe, and North America) in one day.


The following year, Slang was released. Slang showed a completely new Def Leppard. Many genres of music were stuck together on it. Only 3 million copies were sold, but many fans attribute that to the idea that it wasn't promoted enough. That is why you see all of those banners on web sites for the band asking you to help promote the new album, Euphoria. Thank you for visiting my information page.




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