Def Leppard: drummer Rick Allen admits he ‘didn’t want to be here’ after losing arm in car crash near Sheffield

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen has opened up about the tragic car crash in which he lost his arm.

Rick, 59, from Dronfield, had been in the band for several years before he lost his left arm in a car accident on the A57 near Sheffield in December 1984.

He had been trying to pass another car at high speed and lost control of the Corvette Stingray he was driving, which hit a dry stone wall and entered a field.

Doctors reattached the limb, but it was later removed due to infection.

The English rock icon, who is currently touring with his wife, singer Lauren Monroe, revealed that he “didn't want to be here” following the incident, while admitting that he felt "very awkward" and "self-conscious."

"I really didn’t want to be here, and I felt very defeated," Rick Allen told Page Six.

The incident changed his life forever and left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, but his resilience ultimately helped him continue playing for the band.

Rick has continued playing the drums with Def Leppard thanks to an electronic drum kit specially designed for him.

"A lot of my peers, a lot of fans, my family … a lot of encouragement, they all tried to help lift me up and then finally I got it," Rick said.

He added: "I got to a point where I realized I can do this … It wasn’t until after the fact that I discovered the power of the human spirit, and that’s what really propelled me to where I am now."

Rick Allen joined Sheffield band Def Leppard in 1978 when he was 15 years old. Since then, he has toured the world, sold more than 100 million records and in 2019 was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Def Leppard, consisting of lead vocalist Joe Elliott, Phil Collen and Vivian Campbell on guitar, bassist Rick Savage, and Rick Allen on drums, are hailed as one of the world’s greatest.

The Sheffield rockers recently announced a homecoming gig in Sheffield as part of their ‘The World Tour’.

The band will play alongside rock legends Mötley Crüe at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground on Monday 22 May 2023.