Recently I was out taking photos of iconic aspects of London, which is always close to my heart,” he explains. “While I’m out (on tour) I’m constantly planning out what I’d like to do, whether that’s planning imagery or taking photographs. As an artist, both musically and visually, one medium informs the other, he says. “Being Dad, not a rock star, at home, keeps me grounded.”Ībout a week after the gallery appearances, Def Leppard has another handful of shows, including a cruise out of Miami and then one at Fort Lauderdale’s BB&T Center. “It comes from every experience I go through,” says Allen, who’s presenting his latest collection, “Angels and Icons,” at Boca Raton Town Center’s Wentworth Gallery on Saturday.Īllen’s life has taken a circuitous route, with momentous ups and downs - the rise of the band he’s been in since his 15th birthday the near-fatal 1984 car accident that resulted in the loss of his arm, nearly ending his music career his recovery and development of his current drumming style with one hand and a special drum kit where he uses his foot Def Leppard’s triumphant post-accident return to the charts with the mega-hot 1987 album “Hysteria” the 1991 death of guitarist and close friend Steve Clark and the band’s eventual life as a perennial road fixture, even as current guitarist Vivian Campbell battles cancer.Īs he prepares to come to the show in Boca and another one earlier that day in Fort Lauderdale, Allen says he’s “recovering from 102 shows,” with some time off at home with his family in California. They all have the same inspiration, he says. What fans might not know is that the 52-year-old drummer has also been expressing his art on canvas, with a camera and now even with jewelry.
When the “12 Drummers Drumming” charity event came up, it seemed like the right thing to do, to take one of my Charlie pieces and auction it off for veterans with PTSD.For nearly 40 years, Rick Allen has been providing the beat behind British rock group Def Leppard and its many hits (“Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Rock of Ages,” “Armageddon It”), most of that with just one arm and a steady foot. The best way for me to pay homage to Charlie was to paint him. This is a massive loss to the drumming community. The Stones wouldn’t have worked with anybody else. Charlie was to the Stones what Ringo was to The Beatles. I was super-super star-struck, of course. Charlie picked me out from a roomful of people, walked over and started asking me questions about my playing and this, that and the other. I know he was near and dear to you.Īllen: I met Charlie at a charity event hosted by Elton John in the early 1990s at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Courtesy of Rick AllenĬlash: Well, there’s one last drummer, the late Charlie Watts. I think he’s going to be influencing and inspiring people for decades to come.ĭef Leppard's Rick Allen is a painter as well as a musician. Keith Moon had a particularly large spin on drumming. That’s the great thing about any musician or artist, everyone has their own spin on it. Some of it is so left-field, the way his mind worked was so unique. When I listen to The Who, to this day I cannot mimic what Keith Moon did. And then we found out that The Who had never been to Brazil. But four or five years ago we were invited to go with The Who down to Brazil, and do some shows. I was like, “Wow, that is so cool, man.” I was like, “How you doing, bud?” It was great.Īllen: I never met Keith. So I walked up and said, “Hey, how’s it going?” The guy turned around, and it was Mitch Mitchell. He’s on his hands and knees looking down at some of the hardware. And there’s this guy snooping around the kit. After that is a good time to go out on stage before the audience comes in, just to check everything, tie down a few nuts and bolts, look over the drum kit, so I would be 100% comfortable. We were opening for AC/DC at an old place called Hammersmith Odeon in London. Clash: Mitch Mitchell, from Jimi Hendrix Experience?Īllen: Funny story.
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