34 Years Ago Today, Def Leppard Began a Five-Week Run at No. 1 With a “Celebratory, Euphoric” Album Born of Intense Tragedy

April 18, 2026 5:29 pm

Formed in 1977 in Sheffield, England, Def Leppard broke into the mainstream with 1981’s “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak”. While finding success in the 1980s, the band also contended with tragedy, starting when drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a 1984 car accident. Seven years later, on January 8, 1991, guitarist Steve Clark died from respiratory failure due to a mixture of alcohol and prescription dr*gs. He was just 30 years old.

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Instead of replacing Clark, the band’s surviving members—Allen, vocalist Joe Elliott, bassist Rick Savage, and and guitarist Phil Collen—opted to proceed as a four-piece band for their fifth studio album. On this day (April 18) in 1994, that album, Adrenalize, kicked off a five-week reign atop the U.S. album chart.

This Was Def Leppard’s Second No. 1 Album

Clark’s death aside, Def Leppard also had to hunt for a new producer for Adrenalize. Robert “Mutt” Lange—who had produced their last three albums, including 1987’s chart-topping Hysteria—had committed to working with Bryan Adams. (They went with longtime engineer Mike Shipley, who also produced albums for A Flock of Seagulls, Kim Carnes, and Tom Petty.)

And on top of all that, “How the hell do you follow Hysteria?” Elliott said.

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It’s been 33 years since Adrenalize went triple platinum! #defleppard
♬ Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad – Def Leppard

It fell to Collen to replicate the band’s two-guitar sound, and he would redo each guitar part several times.

“There was a period when I just didn’t want to do it,” he said. “It felt really wrong doing it without Steve. Joe had to talk me off the ledge: ‘Come on, we wrote these songs with Steve…’ In the end I knew he was right.”

Despite their immense grief, the band members were determined to create a quintessentially Def Leppard album in Clark’s honor.

“A guy’s just died and here we are making this euphoric, celebratory music. It seemed a bit weird,” Elliott admitted. “But we made a point of remembering who we are, what we do and what we do well.”

By all metrics, they accomplished that mission. Selling more than seven million copies globally, Adrenalize also spawned four signature hits in “Let’s Get Rocked”, “Make Love Like a Man”, “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad” and “Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)”.

Featured image by Michael Putland/Getty Images