hair story
Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, and Pete Willis, all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1977. The band originally consisted of Willis on guitar, Savage on bass (after originally playing guitar), and Kenning on drums. Only 18 at the time, Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus, in November 1977. During his audition it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. Their first ever gig was in the dining hall in A Block in Westfield School in Mosborough, Sheffield.
The band adopted a name proposed by Elliott, “Deaf Leopard”, which was originally a band name he thought up while writing reviews for imaginary rock bands in his English class (and in at least partial reference to Led Zeppelin). At Kenning’s suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified to Def Leppard in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band. In January 1978, Steve Clark joined the band. According to Elliott, he successfully auditioned for the band by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” in its entirety… (from Wikipedia)
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hair photos
hair band members
Joe Elliott, lead vocals
Phil Collen, guitar
R.I.P. Steve Clark, guitar (April 23, 1960–January 8, 1991)
Rick Savage, bass
Rick Allen, drums
other hair band mates
Pete Willis, guitar from 1977-1982
Vivian Campbell, guitar from 1992-present
hair albums & top 40 songs
On Through the Night (1980)
High ‘n’ Dry (1981)
Pyromania (1983) – Photograph #12, Rock Of Ages #16, Foolin’ #28
Hysteria (1987) – Animal #19, Hysteria #10, Pour Some Sugar On Me #2, Love Bites #1, Armageddon It #3, Rocket #12
Adrenalize (1992) – Let’s Get Rocked #15, Make Love Like a Man #36, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad #12, Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion) #34
Retro Active (1993) – Two Steps Behind #12, Miss You in a Heartbeat #39
post-hair albums
Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) (1995)
Slang (1996)
Euphoria (1999)
X (2002)
Best of Def Leppard (2004)
Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection (2005)
Yeah! (2006)
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
Mirror Ball – Live & More (2011)
Viva! Hysteria (2013)
Def Leppard (2015)
And There Will Be A Next Time…Live From Detroit (2017)
The Story So Far – The Best Of (2018)
The Early Years 79–81 (2020)
London to Vegas (2020)
Diamond Star Halos (2022)
Drastic Symphonies (2023)
live shows
Live in France/Germany 1983
In The Round In Your Face (Hysteria Tour 1988)