Def Leppard Biography

Drummer Rick Allen completed the line up and, after being taken under the wing of AC/DC's manager Petter Mensch, the band released their first LP – ‘On Through the Night’ in 1980.

The next couple of years saw the band tour extensively and play support act for such huge US acts as Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest. The band’s next album ‘High 'n' Dry’ became the group's first platinum album in the United States.

Thanks to the launch of MTV, the 1983 album ‘Pyromania’ was a huge hit. Touring commitments and problems recording the next album led to a delay of four years before ‘Hysteria’ was released. Spawning monster hits like ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ and ’Rocket’, the album marked the ultimate peak in band’s mass appeal.

The 1990s brought less success and in 1992 Steve Clark died from a drug overdose. Subsequently, the band’s 1992 ‘Adrenalize’ album didn’t fair too well with the critics despite producing hits like ‘Let's Get Rocked’ and ‘Make Love Like a Man’.

‘Best Of’ collections in the late 1990s and 2004 helped boost the band’s popularity but, despite opting for an edgier sound, they have been unable to recapture their 1980s fame.