![]() 'I nearly lost this one as well," he said, in another reference to the horrible car accident. One of the main themes of his artwork is actually his right arm. In fact, some of his pieces have sold for tens of thousands of dollars. With the help of seven hit songs, including Pour Some Sugar On Me, Love Bites, Rocket, and Animal, Hysteria has since sold 20 million copies worldwide.Įmotional: Allen confessed the car accident, and losing his arm, enabled him to 'grow in so many ways' he would started to cry when ABC News' Phil Lipof noted that everyone he spoke with in preparation for their interview commented on his impressive heartĪlong with his passion for music, the Rock Of Ages star also expresses himself through painting. It would be released the following August in 1987, and go on to top the charts Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart. The band would go on to finish work on their follow-up album, Hysteria. With the support of his bandmates - singer Joe Elliot, bassist Rick Savage, and guitarists Phil Collen and the late Steve Clark, who died from alcohol poisoning in 1991 - Allen would relearn to play with one hand on a specially designed electronic drum kit that incorporated foot pedals to do some of the work his left arm would have done.Īllen would have to use a mix of patience, persistence, hard work, and thinking outside the box to rejoin the band for their first post-accident gig during the Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington on August 16, 1986. Allen has become a pioneer in the new medium, utilizing drumsticks and rhythm to dictate abstract visuals on canvas.Special kit: But after losing his arm in a car accident Allen would relearn to play drums with one hand on a specially designed electronic drum kit that incorporated foot pedals to do some of the work his left arm would have doneĭespite losing his arm, Allen was determined to find a way to remain with Def Leppard, which meant finding an entirely new approach to playing drums. After years of personal photographic work, Allen ventured into the fine art world with a blockbuster debut collection of abstract artwork built from rhythm. Rick continues his work helping wounded warriors through Project Resiliency's Warrior Resiliency Program sponsored by his charity foundation the Raven Drum Foundation.Īn integral part of Rick's creative life went public in 2012. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award by Maria Shriver's Best Buddies in 2002 and in 2012, was also awarded the prestigious Wounded Warrior Project's Carry It Forward Award. Over the past 17 years, Rick has reached out to teenage cancer patients, children with special needs, at risk youth in crisis, families of domestic violence and veterans who have served in Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then, Rick has been reaching out and giving support to others all over the globe by sharing his personal experiences and his love of drumming. While he was already a hero to millions of young people, he soon added millions of new admirers. Rick lost an arm, but turned personal tragedy into spiritual transformation and continued his musical career. At the height of worldwide fame in 1984, he had a car accident that changed his life. But the originals, they're really everyone that's inspired me over the years and probably the reason why I do what I do and I play drums with DEF LEPPARD."Īllen became the drummer for DEF LEPPARD at age 15. Regarding how he creates his "Legends" paintings, Allen said: "I'll do originals, and then we'll do mixed media based off of those. ![]() I just really looked up to him, and he's inspired so many, so many players on the drums. I was really devastated when he went… I didn't know him well, but he was always such a gentleman. DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen, who has been expressing himself in recent years through his artwork, spoke to the BIG 100 radio station about his "Legends" series of paintings which includes Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon.Īllen, who started painting at an early age before he ever picked up the drums, said (see video below): "The last I did was Neil Peart.
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