Friday, 8th May 2015
Phil Collen April 2013
Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen was recently interviewed by 99.5 The Mountain radio in Denver, CO and talked about his autobiography.
Phil talked about touring with Tesla in 1987/1988, 2015 studio album, Delta Deep, the Hysteria On The High Seas Cruise, his autobiography, Steve Clark, his guitars, Windmill Lane Studios and some trivia questions about Def Leppard at the end.
The 288 page book now has a new title - although it differs depending on which Amazon site you look at. Amazon UK and USA list the book for 27th October release. It will be titled either - "Adrenalized: My Life in Def Leppard and Beyond" or "Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond".
Phil spoke briefly about the book in this interview.
Previous News about this book - 11th June 2014 | 20th November 2013
Listen to the full 14 minute interview below conducted by Lep fan Ken Tomczak.
The book is now available for pre order from Amazon.
- Order Book @ - Amazon.com
- Order Book @ - Amazon.co.uk
Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond - Book Description
A revelatory and redemptive memoir from the lead guitarist of the legendary band Def Leppard—the first book ever written by one of its members—chronicling the band’s extraordinary rise to superstardom and how they’ve maintained it for three decades.
Meet Phil Collen. You may know him as the lead guitarist in Def Leppard, whose signature song “Pour Some Sugar on Me” is still as widely enjoyed as when it debuted in 1988. Maybe you’ve heard of him as the rock star who gave up alcohol and meat more than twenty-five years ago. Most likely you’ve seen him shirtless—in photos or in real life—flaunting his impeccably toned body to appreciative female fans.
But it wasn’t always like this. Collen worked his way up from nothing, teaching himself guitar from scratch as a teenager by imitating his heroes. He slogged it out in London-based pub bands for years, long before Def Leppard formed and transformed from unknowns to icons (all thanks to a little album called Pyromania), from playing openers in near-empty arenas to headlining in those same stadiums and selling them out every night. But as Collen discovered, true overnight success is a myth. Like the other band members, he had to struggle and fight his way to the top; in the end, he says, “our work ethic saved us.” Just as it still does.
This is Collen’s story, starting with his first real taste of success and wild rock and roll excess as a member of the seminal glam rock outfit Girl. But once he joins Def Leppard, it’s also an amazing underdog tale featuring a bunch of ordinary working-class lads who rose to mega-stardom, overcoming incredible obstacles—such as drummer Rick Allen losing an arm in a car crash and the tragic death of guitarist Steve Clark, Phil’s musical soul mate, who lost his fight with alcoholism. Featuring personal, never-before-seen photos of Collen and his band mates on stage and off, Adrenalized is a fascinating account of the failures, triumphs, challenges, and rock-hard dedication it takes to make dreams come true.
99.5 The Mountain - Phil Collen Interview Quotes
Autobiography
"Probably around the time of the Def Leppard album which should be some time in the Fall (Autumn) I would imagine. It should be ready there you know while we're on tour still. I mean this tour's kind of on going. I was just asked - Chris Epting who's a great writer and done lots of interviews before said you should write a book. I said well I don't think it'll be very interesting and he said I disagree and he just pointed out a bunch of stuff. We started talking about it and he started interviewing me."
"Yeah it is and there is some interesting stuff you know where I came from in East London and that whole thing. You know just being kids of people who lived through World War II. That whole thing is very interesting. So it goes from there, all the Def Leppard stuff. Girl stuff which was you know pretty crazy. That was pretty like very rock and roll and slightly debauched and that was so much fun. And then right to now there's just a lot going on I guess and there's been a lot going on but you kind of forget because you're in the middle of it all the time but when you sit down and kind of take note. You go wow Okay yeah a lot's happened on the way."
- Def Leppard - The Record 2015 Show Page
- Def Leppard - Radio 2015
- Previous News - 11th June 2014