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For 41 years, Rick Allen has played drums with the bestselling hard-rock outfit Def Leppard. With hits like “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Photograph,” the group has sold 100 million albums worldwide, all with Allen at the sticks. But Def Leppard almost disbanded in January 1985, after Allen’s Corvette rolled over near Sheffield, England, and his left arm, entangled in his seatbelt, required amputation.

Allen initially concluded that without his arm, his career and life were over; but when encouraging letters poured in from around the world, he decided to try to find a way to continue playing. To create the sounds his left hand had played, Allen ordered specially designed electronic drum foot pedals to imitate the hi-hat, bass drum, snare, and tom. The setup worked and today, the 59-year-old, known to his fans as the “Thunder God,” continues to play with Def Leppard, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Born Nov. 1, 1963, in Derbyshire, England, Allen started playing drums at age nine and performed in four bands over the next five years. When he was 14, his mother answered an ad from Def Leppard, which was looking for a replacement drummer. Allen joined the band on his 15th birthday and, a year later, left school to concentrate on his music career. He celebrated his 16th birthday with Def Leppard, opening for AC/DC at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

Allen’s first marriage, in 1991, produced a daughter but ended in divorce in 2000. That same year, he met Lauren Monroe, a singer/songwriter and author of a self-help book. The two, who married in 2003, collaborate musically and have founded the Raven Drum Foundation, a nonprofit that educates and empowers veterans and others with PTSD and TBI (traumatic brain injury).

Currently, Def Leppard is co-headlining a world tour with Mötley Crüe that also features Alice Cooper. The three acts travel together in a private jet they’ve named Def Crüe. Rick spoke with us from his home in Big Sur, California, where he lives with Lauren, who joined our conversation at a couple of points, and their 12-year-old daughter.

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