Rick Allen

This article is about the musician Rick Allen; for the politician of the same name, see Rick W. Allen .

Rick Allen at a concert in Winnipeg on August 13, 2008

Richard John Cyril Allen (born November 1, 1963 in Derbyshire , Great Britain ) is an English musician and has been the drummer of the hard rock band Def Leppard since 1978 . In 1985 he lost his left arm, which had to be amputated at the shoulder, after a car accident . However, he remained a member of the group and is their drummer to this day. He is also a co-founder of the "Raven Drum Foundation", a foundation that works for disabled people and people in crisis situations.

Def Leppard

In November 1978 Allen became a member of Def Leppard, replacing Tony Kenning. The group went on tour supporting Sammy Hagar and AC / DC and released their debut album, On Through the Night, on March 14, 1980. Allen has been a member of the group ever since.

The accident and the consequences

On December 31, 1984, Allen was driving his car to a New Year's Eve party at his family's home in Sheffield . During an overtaking maneuver, he missed a curve and lost control of his car, which broke through a stone wall and crashed into a field. Everyone was thrown out of the vehicle, his left arm was severed at shoulder level by the improperly worn seat belt . The car stayed on the roof; Allen's friend, Miriam Barendsen, was being held in her seat by her belt and was only slightly injured. She found Allen in the field. Doctors tried to sew the arm back on, but the wound became infected; the arm had to be amputated.

Although everyone was certain that they would never be able to play the drums again and therefore have to leave the band, the band members saw it differently. Together with the Simmons company, an electronic drum kit was developed that everyone could play with their remaining arm and especially with their feet.

On August 16, 1986, Allen reappeared with Def Leppard for the first time since his accident. The band played at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Donington that day , and just a year later, Hysteria, one of the most successful hard rock albums of all time, sold more than 20 million copies. The album reached number 1 on the album charts in the USA , Great Britain, Norway , Australia and New Zealand .

In 2008, Allen was ranked seventh on the list of “Greatest Drummers of All Time” by Gigwise magazine .

Private

Allen had been married to his wife Stacey since 1991, and the couple had a daughter (Laura) on May 20, 1997. In 2000, Rick and Stacey Allen got divorced. In 2003 he married Lauren Monroe, with whom he has had a daughter Josefine since 2010.

Discography

(studio albums only)

• On Through the Night (1980)
• High 'n' Dry (1981)
• Pyromania (album) (1983)
• Hysteria (1987)
• Adrenalize (1992)
• Retro Active (1993)
• Slang (1996)
• Euphoria (1999)
• X (2002)
• Yeah! (2006)
• Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
• Def Leppard (2015)

Honors

In October 2019, a newly described species of giant crab spiders (Sparassidae) was named in honor of Rick Allen and was given the scientific name Extraordinarius rickalleni .

Web links

Commons : Rick Allen  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jenny Rönnebeck: Def Leppard: Hysteria . In: Rock Hard (Ed.): Best of Rock & Metal. The 500 strongest discs of all time . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2007, ISBN 978-3-89880-517-9 , pp. 23 f .
2. ↑ The Greatest Drummers Of All Time! ; Rick Allen at Gigwise
3. ↑ Cristina A. Rheims. 2019. Extraordinarius gen. Nov., A New Genus of Sparianthinae Spiders (Araneae: Sparassidae) from southeastern Brazil. Zootaxa. 4674 (1); 83-99. DOI: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4674.1.4