Old Story (1999): Crossroads… Def Leppard's Rick Allen
Many bands, musicians and artists have had to overcome adversity to get to a point of success. Then there are some that through other factors may have further bouts of adversity even while their careers are booming. Formed in Sheffield, England in the late 70's, Def Leppard would embark on a career that would sell millions upon millions of albums and endear them to a huge legion of fans worldwide. But the band's setbacks and tragedies nearly equaled their mammoth successes in the eyes of many critics and fans. And drummer Rick Allen is the paradigm of the band's rollercoaster ride of triumph and tribulation.
Growing up in Sheffield, Rick's brother used to bring home records for him to listen to. "One of the albums was Deep Purple's "In Rock" and that kind of got me going," Rick recalls. "I'd been trying to (air guitar) the tennis racket for years and he kept taking it away from me so I started air drumming. That was pretty much what got me going - Ian Paice. And it was great because once I got myself into a band, it got me out of the house which was even better." At the age of fifteen, after playing with several other bands in the area, Rick responded to a newspaper ad and joined Pete Willis, Rick Savage, Joe Elliott and Steve "Steamin'" Clark in the band Def Leppard, who had already been performing with a now forgotten drummer.