For 41 years, Rick Allen has played drums with the bestselling hard-rock outfit Def Leppard. With hits like “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Photograph,” the group has sold 100 million albums worldwide, all with Allen at the sticks. But Def Leppard almost disbanded in January 1985, after Allen’s Corvette rolled over near Sheffield, England, and his left arm, entangled in his seatbelt, required amputation.
Allen initially concluded that without his arm, his career and life were over; but when encouraging letters poured in from around the world, he decided to try to find a way to continue playing. To create the sounds his left hand had played, Allen ordered specially designed electronic drum foot pedals to imitate the hi-hat, bass drum, snare, and tom. The setup worked and today, the 59-year-old, known to his fans as the “Thunder God,” continues to play with Def Leppard, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.