Editing Steve Clark (section)

==Biography==
===Childhood and adolescence===
Stephen Maynard Clark was born and raised in [[Wisewood]], Sheffield, to Barrie and Beryl (nee Beckingham) Clark. From an early age, he showed an interest in music, attending his first concert featuring [[Cliff Richard and the Shadows]] at age six.  At 11, he received his first guitar which was purchased by his father on the condition that he learn to play. Clark studied classical guitar for a year before he first heard the music of [[Jimmy Page]] and [[Led Zeppelin]] at a friend's house.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

When Clark left school, his first employer was the engineering firm [[GEC Traction]], where he worked as a lathe operator. He was three years into a four-year apprenticeship with the firm at the time Def Leppard was signed to a record deal with [[Phonogram Records]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

===Career with Def Leppard===
Before joining [[Def Leppard]] in 1978, Clark played cover songs with his band Electric Chicken in Sheffield. Around that time, he met [[Pete Willis]] (Def Leppard's original guitarist and founder) at a technical college. Willis spotted Clark reading a guitar book and asked if he played. He then invited Clark to come and audition for his band, as they were looking to add a second guitarist. Clark never showed up, but when Willis and singer [[Joe Elliott]] bumped into Clark again at a [[Judas Priest]] concert, Willis re-issued his invitation.<ref name=fricke>{{cite book|last1=Fricke|first1=David|title=Animal Instinct|date=1 November 1987|publisher=Zomba Books|isbn=978-0946391554}}</ref> Clark finally came down to their rehearsal room and joined Def Leppard in January 1978.  According to Elliott in ''[[Behind the Music]]'', Clark auditioned for Def Leppard by playing all of [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]]'s "Free Bird" without accompaniment.<ref name = Tombstone>{{cite book|title=The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians|first=Scott|last=Stanton|date=2 September 2003|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0743463300}}</ref> While a member of Def Leppard, Clark wrote or co-wrote over 90% of the band's songs.<ref>Goldmine Magazine June 1993</ref> Clark and Pete Willis shared lead guitar duties, and Clark was nicknamed "The Riffmaster" due to his talent and ability to come up with guitar riffs.<ref>according to Joe Elliott in VH1's Classic Albums series featuring Def Leppard's ''Hysteria''</ref>

Toward the end of the ''[[Pyromania (album)|Pyromania]]'' recording sessions in 1982, Pete Willis was asked to leave the band, and guitarist/backing vocalist [[Phil Collen]] was recruited into the band to replace him.<ref>{{cite web |last=Spera |first=Keith |date=15 August 2009 |title=A conversation with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/article_ccc7f65c-300d-5a54-b927-590440b6fab6.html |access-date=14 April 2022 |website=NOLA.com }}</ref> Clark and Collen quickly bonded, becoming close friends and leading to the trademark dual-guitar sound of Def Leppard. He and Collen became known as the "Terror Twins" in recognition of their close friendship and alcohol-fueled antics offstage.<ref name="fricke" /> Part of their success as a duo was attributed to their ability to swap between rhythm and lead guitar, with both playing lead or both doing rhythm within the same song.<ref>on the BBC's ''Classic Albums'' show</ref> The fact that they came from entirely different musical backgrounds also contributed to their unique guitar partnership. Clark was a classically trained musician who knew the rules of music and could read and write music and understood the theory and science of the art, as well as studying/being influenced by [[Jimmy Page]] and [[Led Zeppelin]]; whereas Collen, like Willis, was self-taught and developed his fast, alternate-picking technique from studying [[Al Di Meola]] and listening to jazz players. Clark once said, "I do read and write and I know the rules of music which is great in a two-guitar band because we're so different in our approach to playing. Phil will play something if it sounds right, whereas I look at things and say: 'it's wrong to play that note; it's not musically correct'."<ref>Interview with Steve Clark & Phil Collen - December 1983 - Kerrang! magazine</ref>

Clark primarily played [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson Guitars]] during his career and signed an endorsement with [[Gibson (guitar company)|Gibson]] in 1987. Gibson made some custom-specification guitars for Clark. He was occasionally seen playing other guitars, including a [[Fender Stratocaster]] for the song and video "Love Bites". Clark would also use Fenders in the studio occasionally, due to their unique sound.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 July 2017 |title=Phil Collen and Steve Clark: Def Leppard |url=https://musicplayers.com/2017/07/phil-collen-and-steve-clark-def-leppard/ |access-date=14 April 2022 |website=MusicPlayers.com }}</ref>

Although his name appears on many songwriting credits for Def Leppard's 1992 album, ''[[Adrenalize]],'' he did not contribute much to the recording of the album. In the liner notes of the ''Adrenalize'' deluxe edition, Joe Elliott claims that a few riffs Clark had demoed were used in a couple of places on the album. His only other contribution was an occasional approval of what the rest of the band was working on, referring to it as "cool". The song "White Lightning" described the effects of Clark's alcohol and drug addictions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMVMK4GwJew  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/zMVMK4GwJew| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=All About Steve Clark Pt. 1 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=15 July 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> However, the deluxe rerelease of ''Adrenalize'' features a demo of the song "[[Tonight (Def Leppard song)|Tonight]]", which Clark performed in, having been recorded in 1988, intended to be a B-side for ''Hysteria''.

Clark was involved in the recording of the demo for the band's 1995 single "[[When Love & Hate Collide]]", just days before his 1991 death.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The song at the time was reminiscent of the ''Hysteria'' and ''Adrenalize'' sound as opposed to the newer sound of the next album ''Slang''. The demo of this song contains the final solo Clark ever performed. A demo of Clark's solo was found for the song "[[Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)]]" but was never integrated into any official material.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} [[Tesla (band)|Tesla]], who opened for Def Leppard on the ''Hysteria'' tour, recorded a tribute to Clark entitled "Song & Emotion (To Our Friend, Steve 'Steamin' Clark)" for their album ''[[Psychotic Supper]]''.<ref name="Cairns">{{cite news |title=Top 5 |date=11 March 2010 |newspaper=[[The Cairns Post]] |publisher=News Limited |location=Cairns, Australia |page=14 |quote=Inspired by the death of producer and C+C Music Factory founding member David Cole, as well as Def Leppard guitarist Steve Clark, 90s R'n'B doesn't get much sweeter than this.}}</ref>

===Personal life===
Clark was engaged to an American model, Lorelei Shellist, the two having been together seven years. Shellist revealed in her autobiography, ''Runway Runaway'', that Clark's alcoholism played a major role in their breakup.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meet Lorelei Shellist of Runway RunAway Collection by Style & Image Icon Expert |url=http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-runway-runaway-collection-style-image-icon-expert/ |website=Voyage LA |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=12 February 2019}}</ref> In 1989, his Def Leppard bandmate Phil Collen and others held an intervention to urge him to cease his alcohol abuse. Clark agreed to enter a rehabilitation centre, but left without completing the programme and resumed drinking.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/steve-clark-dies/|title=The Day Def Leppard Guitarist Steve Clark Died|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=8 January 2016 |access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref> He became engaged to a recovering [[heroin]] addict named Janie Dean shortly before his death.<ref name="Wiederhorn" />  

===Death===
At the time of his death, Clark was on a leave of absence from Def Leppard. "We'd given him six months off," recalled [[Joe Elliott]], "told him to go and spend some time in the beautiful house he'd bought in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], eat some food he'd cooked himself, and take his clothes out of the suitcase and put them in the wardrobe. But instead he spent most of his time in the pub round the corner, and do things like get so drunk he'd fall down the stairs and crack his rib. So he'd be on serious medication for cracked ribs. Then he'd carry on drinking."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Mick|last=Wall|author-link=Mick Wall|title=A wild ride over stony ground|magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]|date=May 2018|issue=248|page=37}}</ref> 

Weeks prior to his death, Clark was found unconscious inside a bar in [[Minneapolis]] and was rushed to Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center. His bandmates all subsequently flew to Minneapolis to be with him. There, a doctor urged them to convince Clark to enter rehab after he registered a [[blood alcohol content|blood alcohol level]] of 0.59; by contrast, [[Led Zeppelin]]'s [[John Bonham]] had registered a blood alcohol level of 0.41 when he died in 1980.<ref name="Wiederhorn">{{cite web|date=8 January 2021|first=Jon|last=Wiederhorn|title=30 Years Ago: Def Leppard Guitarist Steve Clark Dies|url=https://loudwire.com/def-leppard-steve-clark-death-anniversary/|access-date=12 January 2021|website=Loudwire}}</ref>

Clark checked into a rehab facility in [[Arizona]] with the promise that his spot in Def Leppard would be held for him until he was healthy. While there, he met a recovering [[heroin]] addict named Janie Dean, and the pair agreed to help each other with their addictions. They soon became engaged and Clark started drinking again. According to Phil Collen, it became "almost impossible" to keep Clark sober after Dean entered his life, and almost as difficult to keep track of his whereabouts.<ref name="Wiederhorn" /> 

On 8 January 1991, Dean found Clark dead on his couch.<ref name = Tombstone/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/10/obituaries/steve-clark-guitarist-30.html|title=Steve Clark, Guitarist, 30|newspaper=New York Times|date=10 January 1991|accessdate=16 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-09-mn-7168-story.html|title=Steve Clark, 30; Guitarist With Def Leppard|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=9 January 1991|accessdate=16 February 2025}}</ref> He was 30 years old. The postmortem revealed that the cause of death was [[respiratory failure]] caused by a lethal mixture of alcohol and [[prescription drugs]]. At the time of his death, Clark had a [[blood alcohol level]] of .30 and [[morphine]] in his system.<ref name=Tombstone/> Daniel Van Alphen, Clark's drinking companion the night before, testified that they went to a local pub and returned to Clark's home at midnight to watch a video.

Clark was buried at Wisewood Cemetery in [[Loxley, South Yorkshire|Loxley]], Sheffield, near to where the Clark family still reside.<ref name=Tombstone/>