Rick Allen |
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DiscographyAlbumsSongs from the Sparkel Lounge [2008] Yeah [2006] X [2002] Euphoria [1999] Slang [1996] Retro-Active [1993] Adrenalize [1992] Hysteria [1987] Pyromania [1983] High `N` Dry [1981] On Though The Night [1980] SinglesNine Lives [2008] |
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Rick Allen Biography |
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Richard John Cyril "Rick" Allen (born November 1, 1963, Dronfield, Derbyshire, England) is the drummer for the British hard rock band Def Leppard, who took the role as drummer from Frank Noon in 1978. He is famous for overcoming the complete amputation of his left arm to continue playing with the band, which subsequently went on to its greatest popular success worldwide.
Allen started out drumming with his mother`s kitchen utensils when he was five, using a tambourine as additional percussion. At about the age of 10 he successfully persuaded his parents to get him a drumkit, by agreeing to take lessons, and pay half the cost of the kit. He got a red sparkle Del-Ray drum kit and after six months of lessons, he began playing with his first band, Smokey Blue. Later on he played with bands called Rampant and the Johnny Kalendar Band. When Allen was 15, his father replied on his behalf (Allen himself didn`t want to reply, as he was ready to give up the drums) to an ad placed by a band called Def Leppard looking for a drummer to replace Frank Noon ("Leppard loses skins" was the ad`s headline), and on November 28, 1978, Allen joined the band. In 1979 he dropped out of school (other band members quit their jobs around the same time) 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 shows as a support act for AC/DC; Allen celebrated his 16th birthday with a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon. On March 14, 1980, the band released their first album, On Through the Night. This was followed the next year by High `n` Dry and in 1983 by Pyromania, the album that made them superstars. Rick was married on October 10, 2003, to Lauren Monroe, co-founder of Raven Drum Foundation a charity set up by Rick located in Malibu, California, to encourage disabled children to overcome their challenges. Rick has a daughter, Lauren Shane Allen (born May 20, 1997), by a previous marriage. Allen is a vegetarian.[2] Biography Credit: www.Wikipeda.com |
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BiographyFriends and FamilyRobert Allen [Brother] :: Kate Allen [Mother] :: Geoff Allen [Father]Trivia and QuotesQuotes Some people say that practice makes perfect but I just feel that the repetition works against me and I start thinking too far ahead during a show. But it`s funny that now I`m in such a happy situation, I look more objectively at my own past and see what others have seen for a long time and I`m just so glad I`ve been able to get to this point. Before my accident I was a little too... selfish and self-absorbed and for me, to now be at the place where I can kinda give back and inspire people. I`m blessed. I`m really blessed. You know, even though you have a limb severed, the signals keep running down the nerves so I still get an itch on my elbow or whatever. But the irony is that because the band isn`t the focus any more, it allows me the chance to enjoy being a member of Def Leppard much more. I prefer the rather old and battered, things with character, to the brand new. We`re probably doing better business than we thought we would do especially considering the disappointing way the record company has handled the album. Chasing the sensation. Whether it was drugs or sex or whatever. Those things had become my main focus in life. Yes, of course that`s true but you know, the irony of all that is that before the accident, I`d pretty much lost interest in playing drums. `Cause I felt I didn`t have anything else to prove as a musician... and boy was I wrong about that one. I wanted to be as far away from everybody as I could be. I found it difficult to be close to anybody, not just the guys in the band. My situation should have been a lot worse. By rights I shouldn`t have survived the crash. But unfortunately, in my unrelenting drive to get back on that drum stool, the major casualty in all of it was that I really forgot about me. Thinking about what songs are coming next instead of just relaxing, breathing and playing from my heart. Sometimes it can get to be almost like the enemy. I think at that time I obviously wasn`t aware of what I really needed. But conversely, my wanting to prove something to everyone was beneficial `cause if I hadn`t done it then, maybe I`d never have done it. I really don`t feel any strong allegiance to any country. Just the same way I`d say a prayer before going onstage, taking that even further and using the drum to inspire people. And using that as a vehicle for the intention. If we had loads of money as a family, things would be different and they`d come to visit more and I`d get to spend more time here. But I`m laying down roots in America so when I`m there, just being at home, it`s harder to break away from that. I was happy in Dublin because it is very cosmopolitan. I think my perception of my own life is different and the fact that Lauren and myself are together. I`ve never felt this free or happy and so that permeates onto my onstage persona and to my working environment. But I think that the most important thing was to really stop drinking. I think all of those things, but certainly the booze really brought out the really unreasonable side of me, and I just didn`t want to revisit that place again. I have never been one for the over-the-top. At the end of the day, they`re happy if you do the obvious songs towards the end of the set and you`ve got to try and make yourself happy by doing certain songs at the front end of the set. And more importantly, I wouldn`t be the person I am today, I wouldn`t be where I am now and I may not even have been here if it wasn`t for the accident. America feels like home as much as it does here. Although it`s a strange situation as I feel almost like I`m in no-man`s land some of the time, because although I`m a resident, I still can`t vote so I don`t really have a say in what goes on where I live.Trivia Rick has a daughter, Lauren Shane Allen born 20 May 1997. Allen auditioned to Def Leppard with Thin Lizzy`s song, Emerald. According to band mate/founder Rick Savage, they sounded much better than they had in the past. 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. He`s also referred to by Goldie Lookin` Chain in their song `Self Suicide`: "That drummer from Def Leppard, his arm`s made ten times more money than he has.". He was given the Humanitarian Award on August 29, 2001 Rick and his current wife, Lauren, founded the Raven Drum Foundation which uses music as therapy Shares a birthday with Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman, Anthony Kiedis. On New Year`s Eve, 1984, Rick was driving with his girlfriend, when he was involved in a serious car accident. His seat belt had severed his left arm, and it was reattached with surgery. The arm became infected, and doctors had to remove the arm, this time for good. He taught himself to play drums using his right arm and left foot, and returned as a member of Def Leppard to record their 1987 mega-hit, Hysteria. Drummer for Def Leppard. | ||
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