Is Rick Allen still with Def Leppard

Def Leppard's Rick Allen, sans left arm, still going strong on the skins.

Rick Allen has led an up-and-down life. When he was just 15, he joined the 2019 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame metal band Def Leppard as drummer. But then, on the last day of the year in 1984, things got as bleak as they can get. While attempting to pass an Alfa Romeo on a winding country road near Sheffield, England, he lost control of his Corvette C4 and rolled it several times, in the process losing his left arm. An arm to a drummer is 25% of his ability to play. But, to his credit, Allen painfully relearned to play on a professional level with only three limbs. The rest is history.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Raven Drum Foundation, he has organized “12 Drummers Drumming,” an online auction that benefits veterans with PTSD, and includes a dozen well-known sticks men, including Ringo Starr, studio musician Jim Keltner and Stones replacement drummer Steve Jordan. We caught with up Allen at a recent art show in New Jersey (he’s an artist as well as a musician), to discuss the auction and his storied career. Following are edited excerpts from a longer conversation. This is Part 1 of our interview.

Jim Clash: Painful as it is, take us back to that fateful day on New Year’s Eve 1984 when you lost your arm.

Rick Allen: My girlfriend at the time and I were on a winding country road, having a nice drive near Sheffield. This Alfa Romeo came round a corner and went blazing past. I was like, “Wow, that’s some interesting driving.” As I continued on, I realized this Alfa had slowed, so I would catch up. For three or four miles, every time I tried to pass, he would speed up. This kept going on, and finally I kind of lost my cool and put my foot down. Now bear in mind, I’m driving a left-hand-side car in England, so I’m on the opposite side. Suddenly, this long corner revealed itself, and, at a certain point, it was too late. I lost control – I think the roads were a bit slippery, too – and, as the car rolled, the seat belt came undone and took my left arm. The arm stayed in the car, and I disappeared through the sunroof, banging my head really badly going out, and ended up probably 150 yards away in a field, literally just lying there. What saved my life is that I tensed up so I didn’t bleed out. I wasn’t unconscious. There was an off-duty cop and a nurse, who didn’t know each other at the time, who helped fix me up. About 45 minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took me to the hospital. It wasn’t until then that I actually bled out when they put me under with anesthetic. 

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen's wrecked Corvette. The crash took his left arm in 1984.

Clash: Did you realize your arm was gone? You must have been in some kind of shock.

Allen: I did for a brief moment, but then I was in a coma for two weeks. During that time, they reattached the arm. Everything seemed to be going okay. Then, unfortunately, probably because I lost my arm in the middle of rural England in a farmer’s field, I ended up getting a really bad infection. That’s when they decided to take the arm completely, which obviously I didn’t know about because I was in a coma. It wasn’t really until a couple of weeks after the accident that I realized what had happened. 

Clash: What was your first thought?

Allen: I wasn’t quite putting things together. I was confused as to why I was in the hospital. But then things started revealing themselves over a series of experiences and days. When they changed my dressing for the first time, they fortunately gave me tons of nitrous oxide, brilliant [laughs]. It was then, in this cartoon state, that I realized, “Oh dear, I actually lost my left arm.” Then everything started coming back in terms of what had happened, and that’s when I didn’t want to do this anymore. I felt defeated, self-conscious, wanted to just disappear. But my family, friends and hundreds of thousands of letters from all over the planet put me in a different head-space. I discovered the power of the human spirit. And that was a springboard into where I am now. 

"12 Drummers Drumming" is an online auction benefiting PTSD veterans and featuring donations from a ... [+] dozen drummers including Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner and Steve Jordan.

Clash: Are you a religious person, believe in God or anything?

Allen: Well, some of the experiences that I had deepened my faith. It just became obvious that there was an intervention. I shouldn’t have survived that. But something lifted me up. It was almost like a sort of higher power decided that it wasn’t my time, that I needed to go back. I know it sounds weird, and it was horrible when it first happened, but now it’s become quite a blessing. Like they say, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.

(Editor’s Note: In the coming parts of this interview series with Rick Allen, we discuss his “12 Drummers Drumming” www.12drummersdrumming.org online charity auction for PTSD veterans, Def Leppard’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, how he rehabilitated to get back into shape as a drummer following his car accident, his art and more. Stay tuned to the Forbes Lifestyle channel.)

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