SABBATH BLEEPIN SABBATH

Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham in 1968, by guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ozzy Osbourne, and drummer Bill Ward. The band has since experienced umpteen thousands of line-up changes, with Tony being the only constant presence in the band 

Originally formed in 1968 as a heavy blues rock band named Earth, the band began incorporating occult themes with horror-inspired lyrics and tuned-down guitars. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social instability, political corruption, the dangers of drug abuse and apocalyptic prophecies of the horrors of war.

Osbourne's heavy drug use (and his dad dying) led to his dismissal from the band in 1979, after which he began a successful solo career, selling over 100 million albums. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. After a few albums with Dio's vocals and song writing collaborations, Black Sabbath endured a revolving line-up in the 1980s and '90s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin, as well as multiple members of Deep Purple and Rainbow. In 1992, Iommi and Butler rejoined Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer. The original line-up reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album Reunion. Black Sabbath's 19th studio album 13 was released on June 11, 2013.

Black Sabbath are cited as pioneers of heavy metal. The band helped define the genre with releases such as quadruple-platinum Paranoid, released in 1970. They were ranked by MTV as the "Greatest Metal Band" of all time, and placed second in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" list, behind Led Zeppelin. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them among the 100 greatest artists of all time. They have sold over 15 million records in the United States and over 70 million records worldwide. Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

While playing shows in England in 1969, the band discovered they were being mistaken for another English group named Earth, and decided to again change their name. A cinema across the street from the band's rehearsal room was showing the 1963 Boris Karloff horror film Black Sabbath directed by Mario Bava. While watching people line up to see the film, Butler noted that it was "strange that people spend so much money to see scary movies." Following that, Osbourne and Butler wrote the lyrics for a song called "Black Sabbath", which was inspired by the work of horror and adventure-story writer Dennis Wheatley, along with a vision that Butler had of a black silhouetted figure standing at the foot of his bed. Making use of the musical tritone, also known as "The Devil's Interval", the song's ominous sound and dark lyrics pushed the band in a darker direction, a stark contrast to the popular music of the late 1960s, which was dominated by flower power, folk music, and hippie culture. Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has called the track "probably the most evil song ever written". Inspired by the new sound, the band changed their name to Black Sabbath in August 1969, and made the decision to focus on writing similar material, in an attempt to create the musical equivalent of horror films.

Following the tour, Black Sabbath returned to Los Angeles and again rented a house in Bel Air, where they spent nearly a year working on material for the next album. With pressure from the record label, and frustrations with Osbourne's lack of ideas coming to a head, Tony made the decision to fire Osbourne in 1979. "At that time, Ozzy had come to an end", Iommi said. "We were all doing a lot of drugs, a lot of coke, a lot of everything, and Ozzy was getting drunk so much at the time. We were supposed to be rehearsing and nothing was happening. It was like 'Rehearse today? No, we'll do it tomorrow.' It really got so bad that we didn't do anything. It just fizzled out."Bill Ward, who was close with Osbourne, was chosen by Tony to break the news to the singer. "I hope I was professional, I might not have been, actually. When I'm drunk I am horrible, I am horrid," Ward said. "Alcohol was definitely one of the most damaging things to Black Sabbath. We were destined to destroy each other. The band were toxic, very toxic."

Sharon Arden (later Sharon Osbourne), daughter of Black Sabbath manager Don Arden, suggested former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio to replace Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. Dio officially joined in June, and the band began writing their next album. With a notably different vocal style from Osbourne's, Dio's addition to the band marked a change in Black Sabbath's sound. "They were totally different altogether", Iommi explains. "Not only voice-wise, but attitude-wise. Ozzy was a great showman, but when Dio came in, it was a different attitude, a different voice and a different musical approach, as far as vocals. Dio would sing across the riff, whereas Ozzy would follow the riff, like in "Iron Man". Ronnie came in and gave us another angle on writing."


On 18 August 1980, after a show in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ward quit the band. "It was intolerable for me to get on the stage without Ozzy. And I drank 24 hours a day, my alcoholism accelerated". Geezer Butler stated that after the show, Ward came in drunk, talking about the things where "He might as well be a martian". Ward then got angry, and decided to pack his things, and get on a bus to leave. The group then brought in drummer Vinny Appice to replace Ward.

The band completed the Heaven and Hell world tour in February 1981, and returned to the studio to begin work on their next album. Black Sabbath's second studio album produced by Martin Birch and featuring Ronnie James Dio as vocalist, Mob Rules was released in October 1981, to be well received by fans, but less so by the critics. Rolling Stone reviewer J. D. Considine gave the album one star, claiming "Mob Rules finds the band as dull-witted and flatulent as ever". Like most of the band's earlier work, time helped to improve the opinions of the music press, a decade after its release, Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia called Mob Rules "a magnificent record". 

 The album was certified gold, and reached the top 20 on the UK charts. The album's title track "The Mob Rules", which was recorded at John Lennon's old house in England, also featured in the 1981 animated film Heavy Metal, although the film version is an alternate take, and differs from the album version.

Unhappy with the quality of 1980's Live at Last, the band recorded another live album—titled Live Evil—during the Mob Rules world tour, across the United States in Dallas, San Antonio, and Seattle, in 1982. During the mixing process for the album, Iommi and Butler had a falling out with Dio. 

Misinformed by their then-current booze addled mixing engineer, Iommi and Butler accused Dio of sneaking into the studio at night to raise the volume of his vocals. In addition, Dio was not satisfied with the pictures of him in the artwork. "Ronnie wanted more say in things," Iommi said. "And Geezer would get upset with him and that is where the rot set in. Live Evil is when it all fell apart. Ronnie wanted to do more of his own thing, and the engineer we were using at the time in the studio didn't know what to do, because Ronnie was telling him one thing and we were telling him another. 

At the end of the day, we just said, 'That's it, the band is over'". "When it comes time for the vocal, nobody tells me what to do. Nobody! Because they're not as good as me, so I do what I want to do," Dio later said. "I refuse to listen to Live Evil, because there are too many problems. If you look at the credits, the vocals and drums are listed off to the side. Open up the album and see how many pictures there are of Tony, and how many there are of me and Vinny".

Ronnie James Dio left Black Sabbath in November 1982 to start his own band, and took drummer Vinny Appice with him. Live Evil was released in January 1983, but was overshadowed by Ozzy Osbourne's Speak of the Devil, which went platinum by the by

In the summer of 1997, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne officially reunited to co-headline the Ozzfest festival tour alongside Osbourne's solo band. The line-up featured Osbourne's drummer Mike Bordin filling in for Ward, who was unable to participate because of previous commitments with his solo project, The Bill Ward Band. In December 1997, the group was joined by Ward, marking the first reunion of the original four members since Osbourne's 1992 "retirement show". The original line-up recorded two shows at the Birmingham NEC, which were released as the double live album Reunion on 20 October 1998. Reunion reached number eleven on the Billboard 200, and went platinum in the US.

The album spawned the single "Iron Man", which won Black Sabbath its first and only Grammy award in 2000 for Best Metal Performance, 30 years after the song was originally released. Reunion also featured two new studio tracks, "Psycho Man" and "Selling My Soul", both of which cracked the top 20 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart....

While Ozzy Osbourne was working on new solo album material in 2006, Rhino Records released Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, a compilation of songs culled from the four Black Sabbath releases featuring Ronnie James Dio. For the release, Iommi, Butler, Dio and Appice reunited to write and record three new songs as Black Sabbath. The Dio Years was released on 3 April 2007, reaching number 54 on the Billboard 200, while the single "The Devil Cried" reached number 37 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Pleased with the results, Iommi and Dio decided to reunite the Heaven and Hell era line-up for a world tour. While the line-up of Osbourne, Butler, Iommi and Ward were still officially called Black Sabbath, the new line-up opted to call themselves Heaven & Hell, after the album of the same name, to avoid confusion. Ward was initially set to participate, but dropped out before the tour began due to musical differences with "a couple of the band members". He was replaced by former drummer Vinny Appice, effectively reuniting the line-up that had featured on the Mob Rules and Dehumanizer albums.
Heaven & Hell toured the US with openers Megadeth and Machine Head, and recorded a live album and DVD in New York on 30 March 2007, titled Live from Radio City Music Hall. In November 2007, Dio confirmed that the band had plans to record a new studio album, which was recorded in the following year. In April 2008 the band announced the upcoming release of a new box set and their participation in the Metal Masters Tour, alongside Judas Priest, Motörhead and Testament. The box set, The Rules of Hell, featuring remastered versions of all the Dio fronted Black Sabbath albums, was supported by the Metal Masters Tour. In 2009, the band announced the name of their debut studio album, The Devil You Know, released on 28 April.

In a January 2010 interview while promoting his biography I Am Ozzy, Osbourne stated that although he was not ruling out a reunion, he was doubtful there would be a reunion with all original members. Osbourne stated: "I'm not gonna say I've written [a reunion] out forever, but right now I don't think there is any chance. But who knows what the future holds for me? If it's my destiny, fine."Butler said that there would be no reunion in 2011 since Ozzy was going to tour with his band.

On 11 November 2011, Iommi, Butler, Osbourne, and Ward announced that they were reuniting to record a new album and begin to tour in 2012. Tony Iommi was diagnosed with lymphoma on 9 January 2012, which obligated the band to cancel their entire European tour, except for three shows: in Birmingham, Download Festival, and Lollapalooza Festival.  In February 2012, Bill Ward announced that he would not participate in the band's reunion unless he was offered a "signable contract". 

On 21 May 2012, at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, Black Sabbath played their first concert since 2005, with Tommy Clufetos playing the drums. In June, they performed at Download Festival, followed by the last concert of the short tour at Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago. Later that month, the band started recording the album.

On 13 January 2013, the band announced that the album would be released in June under the title 13. Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine was chosen as the drummer, and Rick Rubin was chosen as the producer.  Mixing of the album commenced in February. On 12 April 2013, the band released the album's track listing. The standard version of the album features eight new tracks, and the deluxe version features three bonus tracks. 

The band's first single from 13, "God Is Dead?", was released on 19 April 2013.

On 20 April 2013, Black Sabbath commenced their first Australia/New Zealand tour in 40 years, to be followed by a major U.S. tour in July and August 2013.

Tony Iommi 

Geezer Butler

Ozzy Osbourne

Touring musicians

Adam Wakeman

Tommy Clufetos

Former members

Bill Ward

Ronnie James Dio 

Geoff Nicholls

Vinny Appice

Ian Gillan

Bev Bevan

David Donato

Eric Singer

Dave Spitz

Glenn Hughes

Ray Gillen

Bob Daisley

Tony Martin

Terry Chimes

Jo Burt

Cozy Powell

Neil Murray

Bobby Rondinelli

Mike Bordin

Black Sabbath (1970)

Paranoid (1970)

Master of Reality (1971)

Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (1972)

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

Sabotage (1975)

Technical Ecstasy (1976)

Never Say Die! (1978)

Heaven and Hell (1980)

Mob Rules (1981)

Born Again (1983)

Seventh Star (1986)

The Eternal Idol (1987)

Headless Cross (1989)

TYR (1990)

Dehumanizer (1992)

Cross Purposes (1994)

Forbidden (1995)

13 (2013)

SABBATH BLEEPIN SABBATH

A Sting in their Tale....The Scorpions

The very first time I'd ever heard a Scorpions track was when I was in London in 87 just prior to a Contiki Piss up tour of Europe, I'd went to Picadilly Circus to get some clothes after British Airways lost my fkn luggage...and while I was doing that I grabbed a couple of cassettes and a walkman at the record store in the circus [whose name eludes me at the moment]..anyway, One of the tapes I got a was a kerrang double compilation  and it had "Rock you like a hurricane" on it...and thus began my like of the scorps

Scorpions are from Hanover and were formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member (although Klaus Meine has been lead singer for all their studio albums). 

They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change". The band was ranked No. 46 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is also No. 18 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.....They are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, with sales hovering between  75 to over 100 Million records worldwide.

Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist launched the band in 1965. At first, the band had beat influences and Schenker himself did the vocals. Things began to come together in 1970 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. Near the end of the tour, guitarist Michael Schenker accepted a offer of lead guitar for UFO. Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was then called in to finish off the tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role as lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band Dawn Road. Rudolf Schenker eventually decided that he wanted to work with Roth, 

but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup. He attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jürgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well known in the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name

Following the addition of Jabs, Scorpions left RCA for Mercury Records in the States and Harvest/EMI Electrola worldwide to record their next album Lovedrive. Just weeks after being ejected from UFO for his alcohol abuse, Michael Schenker also returned to the group for a short period during the recordings for the album. This gave the band three guitarists (though Schenker's contribution to the final release was limited to only three songs). The result was Lovedrive, an album which some critics consider to be the pinnacle of their career. Containing such fan favourites as "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Always Somewhere", "Holiday" and the instrumental "Coast to Coast", it firmly cemented the 'Scorpions formula' of hard rock songs mixed with melodic ballads. 

The album's provocative artwork was named "Best album sleeve of 1979" by Playboy magazine, yet ultimately changed for American release. Lovedrive reached No. 55 on the US charts, demonstrating that the band was gathering an international following. After the completion and release of the album the band decided to retain Michael in the band, forcing Jabs to leave. However after a few weeks of the tour, Michael, still coping with alcoholism missed a number of gigs and at one point collapsed on stage. Jabs was brought back to fill in for him on those occasions when he could not perform. In April 1979, during their tour in France, Jabs was brought in permanently to replace Michael.

Lets pause for a moment and talk about the Virgin Killer album....How anyone in their right mind thought this cover photo was a good idea is beyond me. The Scorps have several controversial covers in their discography, but this one of an erotically posed 10-year-old girl takes the cake (the shattered glass pattern obscuring her genitals is part of the image).

 The inspiration came solely from label RCA Records’ marketing personnel; the band members had nothing to do with it, but early on they did stand behind it and tried to defend its use as being an artistically symbolic representation of the title track’s lyrical theme: that time is the killer of virgin innocence. Not surprisingly, it was soon replaced by a more acceptable alternative cover depicting the band (in a rather ridiculous pose). More recently, some band members, in particular former lead guitarist Uli Roth, have expressed regret over the cover and their original support of it.


On the Savage Amusement tour in 1988, Scorpions became only the second Western group (not American) to play in the Soviet Union. Uriah Heep had performed in December, 1987 in Leningrad. The following year the band returned to perform at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. As a result, Scorpions developed an extended Russian fan base and still return to perform.

Wishing to distance themselves from the Savage Amusement style, the band separated from their long-time producer and "Sixth Scorpion", Dieter Dierks, replacing him with Keith Olsen when they returned to the studio in 1990. Crazy World was released that same year and displayed a less polished sound. The album was propelled in large part by the massive success of the ballad "Wind of Change". The song muses on the socio-political changes that were occurring in Eastern Europe and in other parts of the world at the end of the Cold War. On July 21, 1990 they joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. Scorpions performed both versions of "In the Flesh" from The Wall. After the Crazy World tour Francis Buchholz, the band's long-serving bassist, left the group.

Always wondered what happened to that guy and then I found out about the departure..."In 1992 Bassist Francis Buchholz was fired from the band for theft of 10 million dollars just before “Face the Heat”....Either they payed him shit or he was a greedy bastard. What a stupid thing! They were on top of the world at that time too...

In 2001, Scorpions released Acoustica, a live unplugged album featuring acoustic reworkings of the band's biggest hits, plus new tracks. While appreciated by fans, the lack of a new studio album was frustrating to some, and Acoustica did little to return the band to the spotlight.

In November 2009, Scorpions announced that their 17th studio album, Sting in the Tail, would be released in early 2010, recorded in Hanover with Swedish producers Mikael "Nord" Andersson and Martin Hansen. Sting in the Tail was released on March 23, 2010.

On January 24, 2010, the band announced their intentions for Sting in the Tail to be their last album, with the tour supporting it being their final tour, although the band later made the decision to continue recording past the end of the tour....In 2010, Scorpions were enshrined in Hollywood's Rock Walk in a handprint ceremony

An excellent album of re-recordings of older songs, Comeblack, was released on 7 November 2011.

Frontman Klaus Meine was asked in a July 2011 interview about the future of Scorpions and whether the band was going to make another album. He replied, "Our newest project comes out in the next few months. It gives you a chance to experience the Scorpions in 3D. You can actually feel the smoke string out of the guitar like it is a live show. It is an incredible experience. The DVD features our concerts in 3D in Germany. We are just about to do the mix and it should be in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia hopefully soon. Indeed, the strong 3D technology makes us feel like pioneers after all these years (he says, laughing). We have an album coming out later this year featuring classics. You know our love for them. The '60s was the era for our inspiration. Our movie/documentary also is soon to be released. We have cameras with us on tours, so this documentary is being made during our tours. It also gives you a picture of the Scorpions career and journey."

almost a year in advance it was announced Scorpions would headline the Wacken Open Air Festival on 4 August.....

Despite ongoing rumour's of a break up or retirement, guitarist Matthias Jabs told AZ Central on June 12, 2012 that Scorpions would not be splitting up. A month later, Jabs told Billboard magazine that the band has been working on an album that will contain unreleased songs they recorded for the albums Blackout, Love at First Sting, Savage Amusement and Crazy World and plan to release it in 2013. 

In April Scorpions announced shows in Russia and Belarus with an Orchestra in October 2013.

Band members

Current members

Rudolf Schenker — rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals (1965–present)

Klaus Meine — lead vocals (1970–present)

Matthias Jabs — lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1978, 1979–present)

James Kottak — drums (1996–present)

Paweł Mąciwoda — bass, backing vocals (2004–present)

Former members

Lothar Heimberg — bass, backing vocals (1965–1973)

Wolfgang Dziony — drums, percussion, backing vocals (1965–1973)

Karl-Heinz Vollmer – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1965–1970)

Michael Schenker — lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1970–1973, 1978–1979)

Francis Buchholz — bass, backing vocals (1973–1983, 1984–1992)

Uli Jon Roth — lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Drifting Sun", "Fly to the Rainbow", "Dark Lady", "Sun in My Hand", "Hell Cat", "Polar Nights" (1973–1978)

Jürgen Rosenthal — drums, percussion, backing vocals (1973–1975)

Achim Kirschning — keyboards (1973–1974)

Rudy Lenners — drums, percussion (1975–1977)

Joe Wyman - drums, percussion (1977)

Herman Rarebell — drums, percussion, backing vocals (1977–1983, 1984–1995)

Ralph Rieckermann — bass, backing vocals (1993–2000, 2000–2003)

Curt Cress — drums, percussion (1996)

Ken Taylor — bass, backing vocals (2000)

Ingo Powitzer — bass, backing vocals (2004)

Studio albums

Lonesome Crow (1972)

Fly to the Rainbow (1974)

In Trance (1975)

Virgin Killer (1976)

Taken by Force (1977)

Lovedrive (1979)

Animal Magnetism (1980)

Blackout (1982)

Love at First Sting (1984)

Savage Amusement (1988)

Crazy World (1990)

Face the Heat (1993)

Pure Instinct (1996)

Eye II Eye (1999)

Moment of Glory (2000)

Unbreakable (2004)

Humanity: Hour I (2007)

Sting in the Tail (2010)

Comeblack (2011)

Live albums

Tokyo Tapes (1978)

World Wide Live (1985)

Live Bites (1995)

Acoustica (2001)

Live 2011 – Get Your Sting and Blackout (2011)

Def Lep: Whats a Deaf Leopard ?

DEF LEP...what can I say about Def lep...WELL,  first time I saw them was on Donnie Sutherlands Sounds one saturday morning when he played the clip "Rock Rock till you Drop"...and that was me hooked, what can I say, catchy hooks...hook me....and my super liking of the band has held up even if they had the guts or gall to release Slang and X...cant let a blip turn you off a superb band.

Def Leppard formed in 1977 in Sheffield....they initially practiced in an old spoon factory and called themselves Atomic Mass with tony kenning on drums, Tony left and 15 year old Rick Allen got the seat and when it came time to do gigs they 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 the band Led Zeppelin).

 At Kenning's suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band. In January 1978, Steve Clark joined the band. According to Joe Elliott, he successfully auditioned for the band by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in its entirety

Def Leppard's debut album, On Through the Night, was released on 14 March 1980. Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences by recording songs like "Hello America" and touring more in the US (supporting Pat Travers, AC/DC, and Ted Nugent). A performance at the Reading Festival in August was marred when audience members expressed their displeasure by pelting the band with beer cans and bottles filled with urine.

 This incident was partially blamed on a cover story in Sounds music newspaper by the journalist Geoff Barton entitled "Has the Leppard changed its spots?" accusing the band of selling out to the American market. In a documentary on the band recorded for BBC 2, Barton recalls feelings of guilt over the story and having a "stand-up row" with the band's manager, Mensch, backstage at the show. In the documentary series Metal Evolution, Joe Elliot says that the media had exaggerated the event and all bands on the day had experienced the traditional "bottling" from the crowd

 Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitar, backing vocals). This is the band's longest-standing line-up.

The band had by then caught the attention of AC/DC producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who agreed to work on their second album, High 'n' Dry, released on 11 July 1981. Lange's meticulous approach in the studio helped them begin to define their sound. Despite the album's unimpressive sales figures, the band's video for "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982, bringing the band increased visibility in the U.S. After the album's release, a European tour followed. The band opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Blackfoot.

Phil Collen, former guitarist with the glam band Girl, on 12 July 1982 replaced Pete Willis, who had been fired the previous day because of excessive alcohol consumption on the job. (Willis would later resurface with the bands Gogmagog and Roadhouse.) This personnel change took place during the recording of their third album, Pyromania, which was released on 20 January 1983 and also produced by Lange. The lead single, "Photograph", turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson's "Beat It" as the most requested video clip on MTV and becoming a staple of rock radio (dominating the US Album Rock Charts for six weeks), and sparked a headline tour across the U.S

Fueled by "Photograph" and subsequent singles "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'", Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year) and was held off the top of the US album charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller. With the album's massive success, Pyromania was the catalyst for the 1980s pop-metal movement. In 2004, Pyromania was certified Diamond having sold over 10 million copies in the US.

 Def Leppard's US tour in support of Pyromania began opening for Billy Squier in March and ended with a headlining performance before an audience of 55,000 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California in September. As a testament to the band's popularity at the time, a US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted as favourite rock band over peers such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. However, this popularity was not matched in their native England where Duran Duran secured the number one spot, a fact that greatly bothered them.


Following their breakthrough, the band moved to Dublin in February 1984 for tax purposes to begin writing the follow-up to Pyromania. Mutt Lange initially joined in on the songwriting sessions but then suddenly declined to return as producer due to exhaustion. Instead, Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell fame) was brought in.

The band's strongest commercial success came between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Their 1981 album High 'n' Dry was produced by "Mutt" Lange, who helped them begin to define their style, and the album's stand out track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982. The band's next studio album Pyromania in 1983, with the lead single "Photograph", turned Def Leppard into a household name. In 2003, the album ranked number 384 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Def Leppard's fourth album Hysteria, released in 1987, topped the U.S. and UK album charts. As of 2009 it has 12x platinum sales in the United States, and has gone on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide. The album spawned seven singles, including the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number one "Love Bites", alongside "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Hysteria", "Armageddon It", "Animal","Rocket", and "Women"

Their next studio album Adrenalize (the first following the death of guitarist Steve Clark) reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and UK Album Chart in 1992, and contained several hits including, "Let's Get Rocked" and "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad". Their 1993 album Retro Active contained the acoustic hit song "Two Steps Behind", while their greatest hits album Vault released in 1995 featured the new track "When Love & Hate Collide".

On 31 December 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash on the A57 in the hills outside the band's home city Sheffield, when his Corvette swerved off the road on a sharp bend and went through a drystone wall. Despite the severity of the accident, Allen was committed to continuing his role as Def Leppard's drummer, and realised that he could use his legs to do some of the drumming work previously done with his arms.

 He then worked with Simmons to design a custom electronic drum kit. The other members of the band supported Allen's recovery and never sought a replacement. Allen was placed in a separate studio to practice his new drums. After a few months, Allen gathered the band together and performed the intro to the Led Zeppelin version of "When the Levee Breaks" to showcase his progress to the band. Joe Elliot reports this as being a "very emotional moment." During this period, Mutt Lange returned as producer. 

Def Leppard brought in Jeff Rich in August 1986 to play alongside Allen during Def Leppard's warm-up mini tour of Ireland, but after Rich accidentally missed a gig, he and the band realised Allen could drum alone. Allen's comeback was sealed at the 1986 Monsters of Rock festival in England, with an emotionally charged ovation after his introduction by Joe Elliott....and to this day, he is called THE THUNDER GOD  by band, crew and fans...and rightly so.

Rick Savage...being a bit of a bass fan, I can appreciate Rick 'SAV" Savages playing ..the guy is locked in with Rick and fkn stays there, solid muso with a great ear for writing a tune...I must admit to being curious about his looks, I didnt know if he had some work done or what..turns out he had a bout of Bells Palsy which paralyzed someof his facial muscles....still, WHAT A BASS PLAYER HUH?


After over three years of recording, Def Leppard's fourth album, Hysteria, was released on 3 August 1987. Hysteria is one of only a handful of albums that has charted seven singles or more on the US Hot 100: "Women" (#80), "Animal" (#19), "Hysteria" (#10), "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (#2), "Love Bites" (#1), "Armageddon It" (#3), and "Rocket" (#12). It remained on the charts for three years and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide Equally successful was the accompanying 15-month tour, in which the band performed in the round. This concept proved wildly popular with fans (as seen in the videos for "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Armageddon It") and was used again for the Adrenalize tour.

At the 1989 Brit Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Def Leppard were a nominee for Best British Group, and the band performed "Pour Some Sugar On Me" at the ceremony. At the 1989 American Music Awards, Def Leppard won Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist, as well as Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album (for Hysteria).

Steve Clark...CLARKY...the riff meister of Def Lep in the early days, although how he played a guitar hanging that low still eludes me, apparently his old man was a right peice of shit who constantly belittled him ...arsehole, hope the prick is in pain somewhere..anyway....following Hysteria, the band quickly set out to work on their fifth album, hoping to avoid another lengthy gap. Steve Clark's alcoholism worsened to the point that he was constantly in and out of rehab. Recording sessions suffered from this distraction, and in mid-1990, Steve was granted a six-month leave of absence from the band. Clark died from an accidental mix of prescription drugs and alcohol on 8 January 1991, in his London home.

The remaining band members decided to carry on and recorded the album as a four-piece, with Collen mimicking Clark's style on his intended guitar parts. Def Leppard's fifth album, Adrenalize, was finally released on 31 March 1992. The album simultaneously entered at Number one on both the UK and US album charts, staying on the latter for 5 weeks

The first single, "Let's Get Rocked", was an instant smash hit, and the band performed the song at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards where it was nominated for Best Video of the Year. In April 1992, Def Leppard appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, London, performing a three-song set of "Animal", "Let's Get Rocked" and Queen's "Now I'm Here" with guitarist Brian May. Joe Elliott later performed "Tie Your Mother Down" with the remaining members of Queen and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash.

Vivian Campbell...Viv signed on after Clarky passed away, and what a great player he is ,his been in Sweet Savage, Dio and Whitesnake before joining the Leps and has complmented Phils guitar playing wonderfully, recently he has let the world know that he has got hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer that affects white blood cells which fkn sucks to be honest...get well brother....as of this writing, Vivian plans to continue performing with Def Leppard....

SO ANYWAY...In 1992, another world tour followed, Viv joining the band, but the band's fortunes began to be affected by the rise of alternative rock, including grunge. A collection of b-sides and unreleased tracks recorded between 1984 and 1993, called Retro Active, was released in October 1993, preceded by the success of "Two Steps Behind" (from the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero). Another single, "Miss You in a Heartbeat", hit the Top 5 in Canada, becoming one of their biggest hits there. Retro Active has sold 3 million copies worldwide to date. Two years later, Def Leppard issued their first greatest hits collection, Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995), which reached number 3 in the UK, and sold over 5 million copies in the US.  Alternate track listings of the album were issued for North America, the UK, and Japan. The compilation included a new track, the power ballad "When Love & Hate Collide", which became their biggest ever hit in the UK, hitting No. 2 on the UK .....On 23 October 1995, the band entered the Guinness Book of World Records by performing three concerts in three continents in one day (Tangiers, Morocco; London, England; and Vancouver, Canada)....Slang, released in May 1996, marked a drastic musical departure for the band by featuring darker lyrics and a stripped-down alternative rock edge. The US audience reception for Slang and its subsequent tour was a major dropoff from a decade earlier, but Q Magazine nonetheless listed Slang as one of their Top Ten Albums of 1996 This album was the first recorded performance of Rick Allen playing a semi-acoustic drum kit since his accident, and not his electronic set as was first used with Hysteria.

VH1 revived the band's fortunes in the US in 1998 by featuring them on one of the first episodes of Behind the Music. Reruns of the episode yielded some of the series' highest ratings and brought the band's music back into the public consciousness (following years of burial by the alternative rock climate). The episode was even parodied on Saturday Night Live. In an effort to capitalise on this new momentum, Def Leppard returned to its classic sound with the 1999 album Euphoria. The first single, "Promises", reunited the band with Mutt Lange and hit the US Mainstream Rock charts at No. 1 for 3 weeks. The album was certified gold in the US and Canada.


On 5 September 2000, Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard by their friend Brian May of Queen. In 2001, VH1 produced and aired Hysteria - The Def Leppard Story, a biopic that included Anthony Michael Hall as Mutt Lange and Amber Valletta as Lorelei Shellist (Steve Clark's girlfriend). The docudrama covered the band's history between 1977 through 1986, recounting the trials and triumphs of Rick Allen and Steve Clark. The 18 July broadcast still produced some of the channel's highest-ever ratings and is available on DVD.
Def Leppard's tenth album, X, saw the band's musical direction moving more towards pop and further away from the band's hard rock roots. X quickly disappeared from the charts, ultimately becoming the band's least successful release. However, the accompanying tour played to the band's strongest audiences since Adrenalize.

NEXT came Songs from the Sparkle Lounge, and what a great friggin album it is , it was released worldwide on 28 April 2008 and on 30 April 2008 in Japan. The album debuted at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 in America. The first single was entitled "Nine Lives" and featured country singer Tim McGraw, who co-wrote the song with Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, and Rick Savage.

INTERESTING SUB NOTE:...did you know they mad a bio-pic about the Leps?...NO...they did, starts out with Ricks prang and explains their history in bits and bobs ...not a bad flick actually...but I'm weird

In October 2008, Def Leppard played with country superstar, Taylor Swift in a taped show in Nashville, Tennessee, in a show called CMT Crossroads: Taylor Swift and Def Leppard. This was released as a DVD on 16 June 2009 exclusively at Wal-Mart. The release was the best-selling DVD of week, and the 10th best selling Wal-Mart music release. A fan of the band since childhood, Swift chose Def Leppard to perform together for the show, and their crossover performance of "Photograph" was up for both Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards in 2009. Taylor said of the performance, "Performing with Def Leppard was awesome! They are the coolest guys on the planet! It was the coolest thing in the world to have my band on stage with them...It was the most amazing feeling in the world..." Joe Elliott from Def Leppard said, "What an absolute pleasure it was to work with Taylor and her band who are a great set of musicians. Myself and Taylor blended really well together, I think, and everybody, both bands and the crowd, had a great time. I'm really glad we had the opportunity to do this."

In October 2009 the band announced that they would be cancelling the last leg of the 2009 North American tour, a total of 23 shows. The band cited, "unforeseen personal matters," as the reason for the cancellations] The band has denied rumours about a breakup, saying, "We're not splitting. Not at all. We often joke, what else would we do? You just can't imagine doing anything else." The band had been earning nearly $700,000 a show, placing them in the top 20 shows on tour. Joe Elliott told Britain's Metro that the band would be taking a one year hiatus. 

They then toured with Poison and Lita Ford in the US during the summer of 2012 from 20 June through 15 September. In between the tour, they headlined Rock Fest on 22 July with Poison and others.

The following year, Def Leppard played an eleven show residency at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from 22 March through 13 April 2013. They performed the album Hysteria in its entirety, as well as other songs. Phil Collen stated that the group will be recording the shows for a future live release which he calls ‘Hysteria Live’. This was the first time the band will play an album live from start to finish. The band played a very different set each night before performing Hysteria. For this opening set, the band addressed themselves as "Ded Flatbird - The World's Greatest Def Leppard Cover Band."

In April of 2013 the band re-recorded several hits and eventually the entire album "Hysteria" in an effort to circumvent their record label from future royalties 

With Pyromania and Hysteria both certified Diamond by the RIAA, Def Leppard are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies each in the US. The others are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen. Both Pyromania and Hysteria feature in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

A BIT OF LEP INFO

Current members

Rick Savage – bass guitar, backing vocals, additional guitar, additional keyboards (1977–present)

Joe Elliott – lead vocals, additional guitar, additional keyboards (1977–present)

Rick Allen – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1978–present)

Phil Collen – guitar, backing vocals (1982–present)

Vivian Campbell – guitar, backing vocals (1992–present)

Former members

Tony Kenning – drums, percussion (1977–1978)

Pete Willis – guitar, backing vocals (1977–1982)

Steve Clark – guitar, backing vocals (1978–1991)

Frank Noon – drums, percussion (1978)

Live musicians

Jeff Rich – drums, percussion (1986; supplement to Rick Allen)

Sinéad Madden – fiddle (2012)

As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria. They are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. The band were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and ranked No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

Studio albums

On Through the Night, High 'n' Dry,  Pyromania,  Hysteria,  Adrenalize,  Slang,  Euphoria,  X, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge

Cover albums

Yeah!

Live albums

Mirrorball

Compilations

Retro Active Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) Best of Def Leppard Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection

EPs

The Def Leppard E.P. Live: In the Clubs, in Your Face

Videography

Historia Live: In the Round, in Your Face Visualize Video Archive Historia / Live: In the Round, in Your Face Visualize / Video Archive Classic Albums: Hysteria Hysteria – The Def Leppard Story Best of the Videos Rock of Ages – The DVD Collection

Singles

"Wasted" "Rock Brigade" "Hello America" "Let It Go" "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" "Photograph" "Rock of Ages" "Foolin'" "Too Late for Love" "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (remix) "Women" "Animal" "Pour Some Sugar on Me" "Hysteria" "Armageddon It" "Love Bites" "Rocket" "Let's Get Rocked" "Make Love Like a Man" "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" "Heaven Is" "Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)" "Tonight" "Two Steps Behind" "Action" "Desert Song" "Miss You in a Heartbeat" "When Love & Hate Collide" "Slang" "Work It Out" "All I Want Is Everything" "Breathe a Sigh" "Promises" "Paper Sun" "Goodbye" "Day After Day" "Now" "Long, Long Way to Go" "Four Letter Word" "No Matter What" "Rock On" "20th Century Boy" "Nine Lives" "C'mon C'mon" "Undefeated" "It's All About Believin'" "Rock of Ages 2012" "Pour Some Sugar on Me 2012" "Hysteria 2013"

Concert tours

Def Leppard Early Tours 1978-1979

 On Through the Night World Tour 

High 'n' Dry World Tour 

Pyromania World Tour 

Hysteria World Tour 

Seven Day Weekend Tour 

Def Leppard Slang Tour 

Euphoria World Tour 1999-2001 

X World Tour 2002-2003 

Rock of Ages Tour 2005 

Yeah! Tour Downstage Thrust Tour

 Songs from the Sparkle Lounge Tour 

Mirrorball Tour 

Rock of Ages Tour

There ya go...a tale of a Deaf Leppard