Rick Allen (drummer)

From Freepedia

Richard John Cyril Allen (born November 1, 1963, Dronfield, England) is the drummer for the rock band Def Leppard.

At age five Allen started out drumming on his mothers kitchen units, using a tambourine as additional percussion. At about the age of ten he successfully persuaded his parents to get him a drumkit, by agreeing to take lessons, and pay half the cost of the kit. On November 28th 1978 he was given the job of drummer for the hard rock group Def Leppard at the age of 15, replacing Frank Noon. In 1979, he dropped out of school, at the same time as other band members quit their jobs, to concentrate on a career in music. In September of that year, they opened for Sammy Hagar at London's Hammersmith Odeon, and in October and November played support for AC/DC, with Rick celebrating his 16th birthday by playing at the Hammersmith Odeon. On March 14th 1980 the band released their first album On through the night, and a little over a year later in July 1981 their second album High n Dry was released. It was to be two years before 1983s Pyromania.

On December 31st 1984, while driving his Corvette with his girlfriend in the UK, he slammed into a wall and his left arm was severed. Despite attempts by doctors to reattach it, infection set in, and the arm had to be reamputated. Through perseverance, the support of his band mates, and a custom drum kit, he remained with the band to enjoy continued success.

Former Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich was an invaluable source of help and encouragement during Rick's convalescence, and after many hours of discussion they decided to try and develop Rick's famous multi-pad electronic kit. After many attempts and with much determination they came up with what was to become a revolution in drum technology. A unique foot pedal trigger system was successfully utilised and Rick was now able to play more or less as he could before, even delivering a successful and well received set at the Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington in 1986.

In August 1987, the band released their fourth album Hysteria, which was highly successful, selling over 15,000,000 copies.

After a five year break, 1992 saw the release of album number five, Adrenalize, with Retro Active appearing a year later. A greatest hits album Vault, was released in October of 1995. Their next three albums Slang, Euphoria and X were released in 1996, 1999 and 2002 respectively. Rick was married on October 11th, 2003 to Lauren Monroe, co-founder of Raven Drum Foundation a charity set up by Rick located in Malibu, Ca, to encourage disabled children to overcome their challenges. Rick has a daughter, Lauren Shane Allen by a previous marriage.

Trivia

• Rick Allen is referenced in the song "Why's Everybody Always Pickin' on Me?" (on the Bloodhound Gang's album One Fierce Beer Coaster) in which the line "The drummer from Def Leppard's only got one arm!" is shouted nine times in a row.