In his youth, Joe was caught by the music of the late 60s/early 70s 'glam' bands such as T.Rex, Mott The Hoople and (David Bowie's) Ziggy Stardust. Joe's dream to be a member of the imaginary band Deaf Leopard came true when he joined Atomic Mass, originally formed by Rick Savage and Pete Willis. Partly because of Joe's dream, the band was renamed to Def Leppard.

Full name: Philip Kenneth Collen
Birthdate: December 8, 1957
Birthplace: London, UK
Marital status: married to Anita
Children: Rory James (with ex-wife Jackie)
Current residence: California, USA

Instrument: guitars/vocals

Phil replaced Pete Willis in 1982 during the recordings of "PYROMANIA". After Steve Clark's tragic death in 1991 and before Vivian Campbell joined, Phil took care of all the guitar parts during the recordings of the 1992 album "ADRENALIZE". Since then, Phil developed himself as one of the main songwriters of the band.

Full name: Vivian Patrick Campbell
Birthdate: August 25, 1962
Birthplace: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Children: Lily Rose & Una Marigold (with wife Julie)
Current residence: Los Angeles

Instrument: guitars/vocals

Vivian was asked to join Def Leppard in 1992, to fill the spot that Steve Clark left after his tragic death in 1991. After being officially introduced at the Freddy Mercury AIDS-awareness gig at Wembley Stadium, his first job was to accompany the band on their "ADRENALIZE"-tours in 1992 and 1993.

Full name: Richard Savage
Birthdate: December 2, 1960
Birthplace: Sheffield, UK
Children: Tyler & Scott (with girlfriend Paige)
Current residence: Sheffield, UK

Instrument: bass guitar/vocals

Sav co-founded Atomic Mass together with Pete Willis and Tony Kenning in the late 70s -- the band that would become Def Leppard. In his teens, Sav was considered a football/soccer-talent and he was asked to join Sheffield United (despite the fact that he was a fan of rival Sheffield Wednesday), for which he played a couple of years -- but he chose to be in a band after all.

Full name: Richard John Cyril Allen
Birthdate: November 1, 1963
Birthplace: Derbyshire, UK
Marital status: married to Lauren
Children: Lauren Shane
Current residence: Los Angeles

Instrument: drums

Rick joined Def Leppard at the age of 15, right before the band signed their record contract. He lost his left arm in a car accident in 1984, but this didn't stop him from being a drummer; with the help from a (semi-)electronic drum kit, Rick became "a better drummer than he was when he had two arms" (as said by Joe Elliott). In 1986, the drumkit was completely electronic, but since 1995, some parts are acoustic again, depending on his studio- or live setting.