Slacker Logo

Def Leppard

Advertisement
Advertisement

Biography

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 12th 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.
Read All Read Less

Albums

See All Albums

Artists Related to
Def Leppard

Whitesnake

FEATURED

Warrant

FEATURED

Poison

FEATURED

Cinderella

FEATURED

Quiet Riot

FEATURED

Winger

FEATURED

Great White

FEATURED

Slaughter

FEATURED

Ratt

FEATURED

Damn Yankees

FEATURED

White Lion

FEATURED

Firehouse

FEATURED

Night Ranger

FEATURED

David Lee Roth

FEATURED

Skid Row

FEATURED

Twisted Sister

FEATURED

Scorpions

FEATURED

Europe

FEATURED

Tesla

FEATURED

Dokken

FEATURED

Lita Ford

FEATURED

Kix

FEATURED

Billy Squier

FEATURED
See All Related Artists

LIVE STREAM... SOCIAL RADIO STREAM...