Def Leppard's one-armed drummer, Rick Allen (32), has lived the rock'n'roll myth to its fullest. But now that has ended.
When he and the rest of the guys in the successful band go on stage at the Sentrum Scene tonight - the world premiere of the tour - Allen will get high only on rhythm and the audience.
"It's been six months since I stopped drinking alcohol and a year since I used drugs. I've been through too many destructive phases with drugs in my life," says Allen.
Allen has done some soul-searching. It all culminated two months ago when the court back in California gave him a sensational sentence for spousal abuse. The drummer had to remove graffiti for 30 days, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and speak out on MTV to prevent domestic violence.
"That was a part of it. Some of my friends and I came up with the idea of making the TV program that the court sentenced me to do. The most important thing for me was to be able to deal with things in my personal life, and not live a lie," says Allen frankly.
"I've divided my life into before and after the sentence. It was good for my personal growth. Now I can focus on my own interests - which are not necessarily the band," he adds.
Allen is crazy about speed. That's how he lost his arm on New Year's Eve of 1984 - which meant that Def Leppard's fantastically successful album was delayed a couple of years. But it went on to sell millions - over 100,000 copies in Norway alone.
- What is it like to play with just one arm?
"When I first started out, it was tough. Then I reached a stage where it went well, physically. I think I'm going to be even stronger on this tour. I like to think of it as a constant learning process," says Rick Allen.
