Steve Clark Discography

Stephen Maynard Clark (April 23, 1960 Clark was born and raised in Hillsborough, the north-western suburb of Sheffield, England. From an early age he showed interest in music his mother even took him to a concert to see The Shadows perform when he was six. At eleven, he asked his father for a guitar, and his father gave him one, on the condition that Steve would learn to play.

His favourite guitarist was Led Zeppelin`s Jimmy Page; after hearing "How Many More Times," he fell in love with the sound and knew he wanted to continue with a musical career. He soon exchanged his acoustic guitar for an electric. After that, Steve started learning some Led Zeppelin songs note by note, improving his style and technique in one. More evidently because he loved Jimmy Page, Clark only used Gibson guitars during his timeline with Def Leppard.

0 – January 8, 1991) Before joining Def Leppard in 1978, he played cover songs with his small band, Electric Chicken, in Sheffield. Around that time, he met Pete Willis (Def Leppard`s original guitarist/founder). Steve asked for a spot in the band and joined Def Leppard in January 1978. According to Joe Elliott in Behind the Music, Clark auditioned for Def Leppard by playing all of Lynyrd Skynyrd`s "Freebird".

While a guitarist for Def Leppard, he was one of the main contributors to the band`s music and lyrics. More importantly, Clark threatened to leave the band if they didn`t go out and play. Considering the impact he had on the band`s skill level and songwriting, lead singer Joe Elliott scrambled to find a suitable gig. The rest, as they say, is history.

He and Pete Willis shared lead guitar duties, but many of the band`s gems could be attributed to Clark`s virtuosity. A notable song in mind that shows Steve Clark`s iconic guitar riffs is the instrumental "Switch 625" off of High `n` Dry.

When Willis was asked to leave due to his drinking problem, former Girl guitarist Phil Collen auditioned for the band. Elliott gave Collen a copy of Stagefright, a track off the band`s Pyromania album, asking Collen to come up with a solo for the song. The next day Collen played the solo for the band and he was in. Clark and Collen were dubbed the Terror Twins in homage to Aerosmith`s Toxic Twins (Steven Tyler and Joe Perry). Over the years, Collen quit drinking, stopped eating meat, and adopted a healthy lifestyle; Clark did no such thing.

The other members of Def Leppard looked upon Steve as a great entertainer as he always certainly did live. His musical work was only interrupted by his severe addiction to alcohol.

Band member Joe Elliott said while other band members were out playing soccer, visiting family, or watching a movie, the only thing Steve was interested in was drinking alcohol or playing guitar. In fact, one night in Minneapolis, Steve was found unconscious with a blood/alcohol level of .59, almost double that of John Bonham at his death.

Since the late 1980`s, Clark`s addiction to alcohol was damaging the guitarist`s musical career. He often showed up intoxicated, causing problems in the recording sessions for Hysteria. His role with the band was limited anywhere but onstage, in which he was always ready and sober for the concerts the band were a part or the part of. During the Hysteria 1988 World Tour, Steve played different intro riffs for three famous Def Leppard songs "Gods of War" and then with Phil Collen on "Bringin` on the Heartbreak" and "Hysteri

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