Def Leppard is a British rock band from Sheffield, England, particularly popular in the 1980s. The band is associated with the new wave of British heavy metal. In 2009, the group lists 65 million albums sold worldwide.
Atomic Mass was born from guitar duo Pete Willis and Rick Savage, accompanied by drummer Tony Kenning in 1977, who study at the same Sheffield High School. Pete Willis meets a certain Joe Elliott on a bus, and he is immediately auditioned to singing. He becomes the group singer, but proposes as new name: Deaf Leopard (Deaf Leopard). It is finally the contracted form Def Leppard which is adopted>. In January 1978, the group hires Steve Clark as second guitarist. In November 1978, Tony Kenning left the group, Frank Noon is a time drummer of the group, but it is finally Rick Allen a 15 years old boy who becomes the drummer of Def Leppard. Their repertoire includes covers (Bowie, Black Sabbath).
The band released their first album "In Through the Night" in March 1980 and it reached the top 15 in England. The band goes on tour in US opening Pat Travers, AC / DC and Ted Nugent. They are spotted by Robert Mutt Lange the famous producer of AC / DC, then a year later the album High 'n' Dry produced by Mutt Lange is born. The album is a hit on the charts thanks to the single Bringin 'on the Heartbreak that spends a lot on MTV. The band then goes on European tour in the first part of Ozzy Osbourne.
In 1982, Pete Willis is ejected from the group he helped create for alcohol problems, he is replaced by Phil Collen, guitarist of the group of glam rock: Girl . The album Pyromania , released in 1983, is a success in the United States (6 million copies sold in 1984 and 10 million copies in 2004)> where the group turns a lot. It contains the Photograph , Rock of Ages and Foolin '.
