Def Leppard was formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in Sheffield, England. Rick Savage (bass), Pete Willis (guitar), and Tony Kenning (drums), all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1977. Following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus, 18-year old Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist. During his audition, however, it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. Soon afterward they adopted a name proposed by Elliott, "Deaf Leopard", which was originally a band name he thought up while writing reviews for imaginary rock bands in his English class. At Kenning’s suggestion, the spelling was slightly modified in order to make the name seem less like that of a punk band and perhaps also as an indirect homage to Led Zeppelin. In 1980 Def Leppard released it’s debut album, On Through the Night. Then on July 11, 1981 they released High ‘n’ Dry. Its title song "High ‘n’ Dry" made #33 on VH1′s 40 Greatest Metal Songs and was a moderate success. But, it wasn’t until their 1983 release, Pyromania that the band would find super stardom. It broke the band across North America and in Japan, and would sell over 10 million copies in the US alone. It featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Def Leppard has since released eight more studio albums and have enjoyed record sales in excess of sixty-five million units.
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