Def Leppard Biography

Def Leppard is an English hard rock/heavy metal band from Sheffield who formed in 1977 at the time of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Thanks to their classic albums, Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top selling and influential rock bands in the 1980s.

The music of Def Leppard is a mixture of hard rock, glam rock, AOR, and heavy metal elements. The band has occasionally been associated with the pop metal movement of the 1980s, although its sound is more accurately associated with the contemporary NWOBHM genre of the late 1970s. The band's songs generally feature simple guitar hooks and catchy, melodic choruses. The Def Leppard sound is also characterized by its combination of hard rock and polished melodic backing vocals.

By the release of the Hysteria record, it was apparent that the band had developed a distinctive, futuristic sound featuring heavily processed drums and effects-laden "space-aged" guitar sounds, overlaid with a multi-layered wall of husky, harmonized vocals. Def Leppard is one of only five rock bands with two original albums selling over 10 million copies each in the U.S. The others are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Van Halen.

Much like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple in the 70's, Def Leppard were rock pioneers in their own right. Their unique brand of melodic hard rock in the 80s, sometimes referred to as "pop metal", influenced a generation of bands in their decade, and afterwards.

Prior to Pyromania, hard rock was restricted to a mostly male following with limited to no mainstream success. When the five young, photogenic members of Def Leppard arrived on MTV, the image added a large female following to the audience, but the music remained loyal to the influences of hard rock and glam metal with a radio-friendly edge, courtesy of Mutt Lange.

It wasn't long before other young "pop metal" bands started hitting MTV (in particular, Bon Jovi and Poison). While the look was more outrageous (most notably the hair) in some cases, the music indisputably followed Leppard's lead, and was now crossing over onto the pop charts with greater frequency and success.

Ironically, a growing legion of Leppard soundalikes would contibute to its fall at the dawn of the 90s. Pop metal bands would be churned out like a factory, armed with the power ballad sure-fire hit and generic songs on mediocre albums. Fans grew tired of the formula, and drifted towards grunge and alternative rock bands, with a totally opposite image and style. However, Leppard would be one of the biggest victims of this backlash, and their fan base would drastically shrink following the Adrenalize tour.

By the mid-90's, the music scene had virtually erased Def Leppard from existence, but it was becoming evident that their songs had influenced a new generation of bands who wanted to successfully incorporate a melodic edge in their heavier style of rock. Their music would be recognized as some of the best of the 80's.

This ongoing appreciation is expressed by current rock bands such as Green Day, Velvet Revolver, Foo Fighters, System of a Down, The Darkness, All-American Rejects, The Offspring and even artists in other genres like Justin Timberlake, P!nk, and Mariah Carey. Def Leppard's fan base remains one of the strongest for 80s rock bands, and their shows once again draw large audiences.

Phil Collen played guitar, uncredited, on Sam Kinison's "Wild Thing" from 1988. The video featured members of Poison, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Guns N' Roses, Ratt, and Aerosmith.

Collen produced and played on the 1991 album On The Edge from Australian band BB Steal.

Joe Elliott sang lead vocals on two tracks on Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood's 1992 solo album, Slide On This. His then-wife Karla even appeared in one of Ron's videos.

Various members of Def Leppard have played on tribute records for Jeff Beck, AC/DC and Alice Cooper.

Elliott also contributed two tracks to the soundtrack of the 1996 Sheffield-set motion picture, When Saturday Comes, the title track and an instrumental, "Jimmy's Theme".

Collen and Elliott were both involved in the side project Cybernauts, a tribute to the David Bowie-Mick Ronson Ziggy Stardust era, featuring members from the Spiders from Mars.


For complete details on album and singles (with sales, chart positions and non-North American releases), see Def Leppard discography.