Def Leppard

Def Leppard, is one of the few bands that arose in Sheffield, England, as part of the heavy metal movement that began in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s.

The English rock band attracted both local and international attention with their hard rock style and exquisite melody.

In relation to their international success, the band has collaborated with American glam metal bands and acts such as Tesla, Styx, and Taylor Swift.

Their musical sound projects a blend of hard rock, pop-rock, arena rock, and the sub-genres of heavy metal.

The present line-up of Def Leppard is made up of the following:

• Joseph Thomas Elliot Jr (founding member & lead singer)
• Richard Savage (founding member & bass guitarist)
• Richard John Cyril Allen (drummer)
• Philip Kenneth Collen (lead guitarist)
• Vivian Patrick Campbell (lead guitarist)

Stephen Maynard Clark (Late), who was popularly known as Steve Clark, Peter  Andrews Willis (founding member) and Thomas Kenning who were included in the band’s most notable line-up, have passed away.

Achievements of Def Leppard

They are considered one of the world’s best-selling artists, with an estimated sale of over 100 million records across the globe. 

Def Leppard has a preceding reputation of being one out of five bands to have two of their officially released albums selling more than 10 million copies in the United States.

As of the publication date of this article, the band has been ranked at number 31 on VH1’s list of 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and number 70 on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

They won the AMA for Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist and Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album and 5 other nominations.

MTV nominated them for six awards for two of their songs; Pour Some Sugar On Me and Let’s Get Rocked. 

They were also nominated by CMT Music awards for their collaboration with Taylor Swift, titled Photography.

In 2009, they became the recipients of the Legends Award during the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards.

During the 2006 and 2016 Classical Rock Roll of Honor Awards, they grabbed awards for Classical Album and Album of the Year respectively.

In 2017, they were honored by Planet Rock Awards with The Brick Wall Award.

Def Leppard was inducted into the Hollywood’s RockWalk on September 5th, 2000 and the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Interesting Facts about Def Leppard

The band was formed by three teenage friends; Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, and Peter Willis in 1977. The three were students of Tapton Secondary School in Sheffield.

Before they became Def Leppard in 1980, they were called Atomic Mass.

Founding member Joseph Thomas Elliot Jr, also known as Joe Elliot was an ardent fan of the British hard rock band, Mott the Hoople.

Before becoming the lead singer of the band, Joe Elliot auditioned as a guitarist. When he was 18 years old, Joe decided to try out to be a guitarist but after listening to him sing and play he was made the lead vocalist.

The band’s first gig was at a high school in Sheffield with only six people in attendance in 1978.

The band members smuggled alcoholic beverages in their drum kit to one of the very first shows with under-aged children in attendance.

Steven Clark and Philip Collen became the closest pair in the group, earning them the name “The Terror Twins”.

Former band member, Peter Andrew Willis was fired in 1982 after his inability to quit alcohol and drug abuse.

On October 23, 1995, Def Leppard earned a World record for performing for 45 minutes for three different shows in three different countries and continents in one single day. The countries were Canada, England, and Morocco.

Their performance was the first rock band performance ever aired on MTV.

They received a Sheffield Legends plaque in 2006 as a sign of honor in their hometown of Sheffield in England.

Brian May of British rock band, Queen was a close friend to the band members. He was the one who inducted them into Hollywood’s RockWalk in September 2000 on Sunset Boulevard.

Top Songs

These are some of the biggest songs released by Def Leppard:

• “20th Century Boy”
• “21st Century Sha La La La Girl”
• “Action! Not Words”
• “Action”
• “All I Want Is Everything”
• “Animal”
• “Armageddon It”
• “Back in Your Face”
• “Billy’s Got a Gun”
• “Breathe a Sigh”
• “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”
• “C’mon C’mon”
• “Comin’ Under Fire”
• “Dangerous”
• “Day After Day”
• “Desert Song”
• “Elected”  
• “Foolin'”
• “Four Letter Word”
• “Getcha Rocks Off”
• “Goodbye”
• “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”
• “Heaven Is”
• “Hello America”
• “Hysteria“
• “I Wanna Touch U”
• “It’s All About Believin'”
• “Let It Go”
• “Let’s Get Rocked”
• “Let’s Go”
• “Long, Long Way to Go”
• “Love and Affection (Live)”
• “Love Bites”
• “Make Love Like a Man”
• “Man Enough”
• “Miss You in a Heartbeat”
• “Nine Lives” (featuring Tim McGraw)
• “No Matter What”
• “Now”
• “Paper Sun”
• “Personal Jesus“
• “Photograph”
• “Pour Some Sugar on Me“
• “Promises”
• “Ride Into the Sun”
• “Rock Brigade”
• “Rock of Ages”
• “Rock On”
• “Rocket”
• “Slang”
• “Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)”
• “The Overture”
• “Tonight”
• “Too Late for Love”
• “Two Steps Behind”
• “Undefeated”
• “Wasted”
• “We All Need Christmas”
• “We Belong”
• “When Love & Hate Collide”
• “Women”
• “Work It Out”