Def Leppard

Formed in Sheffield, England in 1977 during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement, Def Leppard was at the forefront as gangs of grizzly hard rockers suddenly discovered hairspray, smoke machines and power ballads in the 1980s. Led by Joe Elliott's husky growl, Def Leppard built a cult following with the albums On Through The Night (1980) and High 'N' Dry (1981) before their single “Photograph” became one of the most requested videos on MTV and sent album Pyromania (1983) to Number 2 in the US charts. Drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in car crash in 1984 but, using a customized drum kit with his feet doing more of the work, he was able to continue playing and the band returned with the huge US and UK Number 1 album Hysteria (1987), which went on to sell over 20 million copies. On January 8, 1991, the group’s lead guitarist and main songwriter Steve Clark died of alcohol poisoning and the band chose to continue briefly as a quartet. Their next album, Adrenalize (1992), also topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and “Love Bites” gave them their first US Number 1 single. That same year, the group added guitarist Vivian Campbell to their line-up. However, the group began to fall out of favor when grunge artists began to dominate the charts. The group’s subsequent albums – Slang (1996), Euphoria (1999), X (2002), Yeah (2006), Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008), and Def Leppard (2015) – were successful but didn’t perform as well as albums from their 1980s heyday. However, Def Leppard continued to be a popular touring band and remained one of the biggest-selling acts of all time with record sales of over 100 million. In May 2022, they released their 12^th studio album, Diamond Star Halos (the title lifted from lyrics featured in the T. Rex hit “Get It On”). The album featured the singles “Kick”, “Take What You Want”, and “Fire It Up”. The album entered the Top 10 in several countries including the US, Switzerland, Australia, the UK, Germany, and Finland.