Editing Def Leppard (section)

{{Short description|British rock band}}
{{Redirect|Leppard|the animal|Leopard}}
{{About|the band|their 2015 self-titled album|Def Leppard (album)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Def Leppard
| image             = Def Leppard 2018.jpg
| landscape         = yes
| caption           = Def Leppard band members in 2018: [[Phil Collen]], [[Vivian Campbell]], [[Joe Elliott]], [[Rick Savage]], [[Rick Allen (drummer)|Rick Allen]]
| alias             = {{plainlist|
* Atomic Mass (1976–1977)
* Accracy (1977)
* Chemical Reactor (1977)
* Def Leppard (1977)
* Ded Flatbird (2013)
}}
| origin            = [[Sheffield]], England
| genre             = {{flatlist|
<!--These genres are sourced in the musical style section.-->
* [[Hard rock]]
* [[glam metal]]
* {{nowrap|[[arena rock]]}}
* [[power pop]]
* {{nowrap|[[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] (early)}}
}}
| discography       = [[Def Leppard discography]]
| years_active      = 1977–present
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[Jugoton]]
* [[Croatia Records]]
* [[Mercury Records|Mercury]]
* [[Universal Music Group|Universal]]
* [[Phonogram Inc.|Phonogram]]
* [[Vertigo Records|Vertigo]]
* [[PolyGram]]
* Bludgeon-Riffola (their own label)
* [[Island Records|Island]]
* [[Frontiers Records|Frontiers]]
* [[Edel AG|earMUSIC]]
}}
| spinoffs          = [[Cybernauts]]
| website           = {{URL|defleppard.com}}
| current_members   = * [[Rick Savage]]
* [[Joe Elliott]]
* [[Rick Allen (drummer)|Rick Allen]]
* [[Phil Collen]]
* [[Vivian Campbell]]
| past_members      = * Tony Kenning
* [[Pete Willis]]
* [[Steve Clark]]<!-- Do ''not'' add "deceased" to Clark's name -->
<!-- Frank Noon was not an official member, please see talk page -->
| image_size        = 270
}}

'''Def Leppard''' are<!--Per WP:ENGVAR, groups in British English criteria are plural. Please do NOT change "are" to "is". --> an English [[Rock music|rock]] band formed in [[Sheffield]] in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of [[Rick Savage]] (bass, backing vocals), [[Joe Elliott]] (lead vocals), [[Rick Allen (drummer)|Rick Allen]] (drums), [[Phil Collen]] (guitar, backing vocals), and [[Vivian Campbell]] (guitar, backing vocals). They established themselves as part of the [[new wave of British heavy metal]] of the early 1980s. Their greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and mid-1990s.

With a line-up of Savage, Elliott, Allen and guitarists [[Steve Clark]] and [[Pete Willis]], the band's first album, 1980's ''[[On Through the Night]]'', reached the Top 15 in the UK but received little notice elsewhere.  Their second album, 1981's ''[[High 'n' Dry]]'', was produced by [[Robert John "Mutt" Lange|Mutt Lange]], who helped them to define their melodic hard rock style. The album's most popular track "[[Bringin' On the Heartbreak]]" became one of the first rock videos played on [[MTV]] in 1982, but the album reached only the Top 30 and 40 in the UK and US. Willis was replaced by Collen in 1982. Their next studio album, ''[[Pyromania (album)|Pyromania]]'', was released in January 1983, with "[[Photograph (Def Leppard song)|Photograph]]" and "[[Rock of Ages (Def Leppard song)|Rock of Ages]]" both topping the US Rock Tracks chart and reaching the top 20 of the Hot 100. Reaching No. 2 on the US album chart, ''Pyromania'' was certified [[RIAA certification|Diamond]] in the US. It reached the top 20 in the UK but did not sell much elsewhere. The band's fourth album, the more pop-oriented ''[[Hysteria (Def Leppard album)|Hysteria]]'' (1987), topped the UK, US, Canadian and Australian charts, and remained on the charts for over two years, from 1987 to 1989. It has been certified 12× platinum for sales in the US, selling over 30 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the [[List of best-selling albums|best-selling albums]] of all time.<ref name=erg>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/article.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=10539947&pnum=0 |title=One giant Leppard |last=Kara |first= Scott |date=30 October 2008 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> It spawned six Top 20 US singles, including the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] No. 1 "[[Love Bites (Def Leppard song)|Love Bites]]".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Letkemann |first=Jessica |date=2011-12-05 |title=1000 No. 1s: Watch Def Leppard Chat About Topping The Hot 100 |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/1000-no-1s-watch-def-leppard-chat-about-topping-the-hot-100-464825/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref> Singles also included "[[Pour Some Sugar on Me]]" (US No. 2), "[[Hysteria (Def Leppard song)|Hysteria]]", "[[Armageddon It]]" (US No. 3), "[[Animal (Def Leppard song)|Animal]]" (at No. 6, the biggest UK hit), and "[[Rocket (Def Leppard song)|Rocket]]" (a Top 15 hit in many countries).

Clark died in 1991, with the band recording their next studio album, ''[[Adrenalize]]'', as a four-piece. The album reached No. 1 on the UK, US and Australian charts in 1992. It contained several hits, including the ''Billboard'' chart-topper "[[Let's Get Rocked]]", which became their biggest hit in several countries, including No. 2 in the UK. The third single, "[[Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad]]", was a Top 10 song in the US, UK and Canada. ''Adrenalize'' went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide. Campbell joined the band soon after the album's completion. Their 1993 album, ''[[Retro Active]]'', contained the [[Acoustic music|acoustic]] Top 5 hit "[[Two Steps Behind]]". Their greatest-hits album ''[[Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995)|Vault]]'', released in 1995, featured the UK No. 2 hit "[[When Love & Hate Collide]]" and reached the Top 10 in several countries, going 5× platinum in the US. Beginning with ''[[Slang (album)|Slang]]'', Def Leppard released five albums between 1996 and 2008, with most usually reaching the Top 15 in several countries, including the UK, US and Canada. Their [[Def Leppard (album)|self-titled album]], released in 2015, reached the Top 10 in several countries. Their newest studio album, ''[[Diamond Star Halos]]'', was released in May 2022 and reached the Top 10 in the US, UK and Australia.

As one of the [[List of best-selling music artists|world's best-selling music artists]], Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thestar.co.uk/what-s-on/out-about/video-viva-hysteria-with-def-leppard-s-joe-elliott-1-6032457 |title=VIDEO: Viva! Hysteria with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott|date=10 September 2013|first=Graham|last=Walker|newspaper=[[Sheffield Star]]|access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221101206/http://www.thestar.co.uk/what-s-on/out-about/video-viva-hysteria-with-def-leppard-s-joe-elliott-1-6032457 |archive-date=21 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> and have two albums with [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] [[RIAA certification|diamond certification]]: ''Pyromania'' and ''Hysteria'',<ref name="diamond">(26 February 2009). [http://www.newsroomamerica.com/entertainment/story.php?id=446629 Def Leppard Announces US Tour] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306151745/http://newsroomamerica.com/entertainment/story.php?id=446629 |date=6 March 2016}}) ''Newsroom America''. Retrieved 1 March 2010.</ref> making them one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling more than 10 million copies in the US.<ref>{{cite web|title = Gold & Platinum—RIAA |url = https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=awards_by_artist&col=diamond_units&ord=desc#search_section |publisher= RIAA|access-date = 8 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="ticket" /> The band were ranked No.&nbsp;31 in [[VH1]]'s "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2000/vh1hardrock1.htm |title=VH1: 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists |publisher=Rock on the Net |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref> and No.&nbsp;70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vh1.com/shows/the_greatest/episode.jhtml?episodeID=171750 |title=VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All Time |publisher=VH1 |access-date=22 July 2011 |archive-date=10 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910071803/http://www.vh1.com/shows/the_greatest/episode.jhtml?episodeID=171750 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=Def Leppard |url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/def-leppard |publisher=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |access-date=25 November 2019}}</ref>