Def Leppard defined the sound of eighties rock with their massive choruses and polished production. They rose from the factories of Sheffield to become one of the best-selling bands in history. However, their journey contained immense tragedy and unbelievable bad luck. For instance, their drummer lost an arm, and their guitarist died young. Nevertheless, they persevered to create the album Hysteria, which produced seven hit singles. Prepare to get rocked by the ultimate stadium band.
Def Leppard
The drummer Rick Allen plays with only one arm. Tragically, he lost his left arm in a car accident on New Year’s Eve in 1984. However, he learned to play again using a custom electronic drum kit.
Surprisingly, Joe Elliott created the name “Deaf Leopard” in high school. He designed a poster for his imaginary band during an art class. Later, the band changed the spelling to Def Leppard to avoid looking like a punk group.
Impressively, they hold a Guinness World Record for their touring schedule. Specifically, Def Leppard played three concerts on three different continents in a single day. They visited Morocco, England, and Canada within twenty-four hours to promote their greatest hits album.
The hit song “Pour Some Sugar on Me” was a last-minute addition. Producer Mutt Lange heard Joe Elliott playing the riff during a coffee break. Consequently, they wrote and recorded the entire song very quickly to finish the album.
Interestingly, the lyrics for “Sugar” came from a dictaphone experiment. Joe Elliott and Mutt Lange recorded random words while standing at opposite ends of the room. Then, they traded tapes to piece together the now-famous verses.
Def Leppard smuggled themselves into their own stage in laundry baskets. During the “In the Round” tour, they needed to reach the center of the arena unseen. Therefore, security wheeled them through the crowd inside large, dirty laundry hampers.
The strange German phrase in “Rock of Ages” means absolutely nothing. Producer Mutt Lange got bored of counting “one, two, three, four” before every take. Instead, he shouted “Gunter glieben glauchen globen” as a joke, and the band kept it.
Historically, “Love Bites” stands as their only number-one single in the US. Although they had massive success, this power ballad was the only track to top the Billboard Hot 100. Originally, it sounded like a country song before they added rock guitars.
Taylor Swift considers Def Leppard one of her favorite bands. In fact, she successfully petitioned to perform with them on the show CMT Crossroads. Together, they sang both her hits and their classic rock anthems.
Phil Collen appeared on a Deep Purple album cover years before joining Def Leppard. As a teenager, he stood in the front row of a Deep Purple concert. Consequently, photographers captured his face for the back cover of the live album Made in Japan.
The album Hysteria took over three years to record. Problems plagued the production, including the producer’s car accident and Joe Elliott’s mumps. As a result, it became one of the most expensive albums ever made at that time.
Uniquely, the “In the Round” stage placed the band in the middle of the crowd. This design allowed them to sell thousands of extra tickets per show. However, it required the members to run constantly so they could face every section of the audience.
Mariah Carey covered their song “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.” She released her version on her 2002 album Charmbracelet. The band members praised her cover, noting that she stayed true to the original melody.
Def Leppard beat Michael Jackson on MTV in 1983. Their music video for “Photograph” became the most requested video on the network. Thus, they surpassed the King of Pop’s massive hit “Beat It” in popularity.
Finally, the band never actually met the producer of their first EP. They mailed the tapes to him and received the finished vinyl records later. Thus, their recording career began with a completely remote collaboration.
