Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

. Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''

Pyromania Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...

'' album. Before joining Def Leppard, Collen had performed with a number of bands in the burgeoning British

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that features pop music, pop-influenced Hook (music), hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat arena rock, rock anthems, and slow Sentimental ballad#Powe ...

scene. Outside of Def Leppard, he has been involved in a number of side projects; those projects include the trio Man Raze, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist. Collen has been noted for his

shred guitar Shred guitar is a virtuosic style of electric guitar performance. Categorized by its use of advanced techniques, shredding is a complex art form. Shred guitar includes fast alternate picking, sweep-picking, diminished and harmonic minor scales, t ...

playing style.

Early life

Collen was born in Hackney, London. He got his first guitar, a red Gibson SG, on his 16th birthday, and taught himself how to play. He played with several bands including

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

, Tush, and Dumb Blondes. He left school to work as a motorcycle dispatch rider for a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

until his band

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...

got their first record contract. During his tenure with Girl, Collen's career began rising, spurred by the relative success of the albums '' Sheer Greed'' and '' Wasted Youth'', which allowed him the opportunity to play at more significant venues. A young Collen can also be seen on the back cover of

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

's live album '' Made in Japan'' as the live photo was actually taken at the

Rainbow Theatre The Rainbow Theatre, originally known as the Finsbury Park Astoria, then the Finsbury Park Paramount Astoria, and then the Finsbury Park Odeon, is a Grade II*-listed building in Finsbury Park, London. The theatre was built in 1930 as an "atmos ...

in London, a concert Collen attended, and not in Japan. In an interview, Collen revealed that he was approached by Steve Harris to join

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

replacing guitarist Dennis Stratton.

Def Leppard

Before Collen joined Def Leppard on 12 July 1982 during the recording of ''

'', he had previously been asked to consider joining the band during the 1981 tour for '' High 'n' Dry'' by Joe Elliott and Steve Clark, whom he knew at the time. Despite this invitation, there was no need to replace Pete Willis. As a result, Collen stayed a member of Girl.

Recruitment and friendship with Steve Clark

After Willis was fired due to alcohol problems, Joe Elliott called and asked Collen to audition. He was asked to perform the solos on the songs "Stagefright" and "Photograph" during the recording sessions of ''

''. Mutt Lange, the band's producer, said to Collen, "just have fun on it, play some solos on it". "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", "Foolin, "Stagefright", and "Rock Till You Drop" were all songs that he played solos on. He and fellow guitarist Clark quickly bonded, becoming close friends and leading to the trademark dual-guitar sound of Def Leppard. Collen and Clark became known as the "Terror Twins", in recognition of their talents and hard drinking lifestyles. By this time, Collen had also become noted for his trademark bare-chested stage appearances.

Changes in lifestyle, death of Clark and ''Adrenalize'' sessions

In 1988, Collen quit drinking alcohol after having developed an addiction to it. He also stopped eating meat and adopted a generally healthy lifestyle. According to Collen, he had begun suffering from blackouts due to alcohol and stopped drinking when he realized that his addiction was starting to dominate his life. Clark died due to alcohol abuse in early 1991. After Clark died, Collen was faced with the challenge of dealing with the loss of a friend and bandmate as well as the burden and responsibility of the '' Adrenalize'' recordings. Recording the parts that had been written for Clark proved difficult. While Clark's playing style was rhythmic, melodic and sometimes even characterized as "sloppy", Collen's style was technical and precise. The contrast between their playing styles made it challenging to mimic the sound of Clark's guitar work. Due to the aftermath of Clark's death, as well as the issues with the recording of ''Adrenalize'', Collen seriously considered leaving Def Leppard. According to Elliott, Collen did not want to continue in the band without Clark and said, "I'd rather be a plumber". Clark would ultimately be replaced as the band's co-lead guitarist by Vivian Campbell, formerly of Dio and

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

, shortly before the ''Adrenalize'' tour. The hiring of Campbell relieved Collen of some of the pressures of the "overkill" production style of Def Leppard, as well as the challenge of reproducing Clark's guitar parts for live shows.

Side projects

Collen has been involved in several side projects over his career, most notably the band Man Raze, formed as a joint collaboration with former

bandmate Simon Laffy as bassist and drummer Paul Cook from the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

. Collen played lead guitar on

Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...

's song ''Just Between You and Me'' in 1990. Due to his band disapproving of him playing on this song, he was credited as Rory James Collen on the track. In 1990, Collen co-produced the ''On the Edge'' album of the Australian band BB Steal. In 1991, Collen offered a song he had written, "Miss You in a Heartbeat" to the band The Law, which was featured on the band's self-titled album. This album was the band's only release. "Miss You in a Heartbeat" was later recorded and released by

. In 1993, Collen executive produced the album ''Sublime to the Ridiculous'' for the band, Sheer Greed, composed of former members of

, an act Collen was also associated earlier in his career. Collen has also worked in side projects with Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott. One of these recent projects was a tribute to

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

. He and Elliott also joined with

Trevor Bolder Trevor Bolder (9 June 1950 – 21 May 2013) was an English rock musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his long association with Uriah Heep and his tenure with the Spiders from Mars, the backing band for David Bowie, ...

and Mick "Woody" Woodmansey from Spiders from Mars and keyboardist Dick Decent to form the band Cybernauts. In 2001 they released a live album of Bowie songs. In 1996, Collen performed as a featured guitarist on the ''Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle'' album – a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

. Collen performed on the single, "'Cause We've Ended As Lovers" from the album. In 2010, Collen recorded the song "Hard Times Celebrate" with rapper Bazaar Royale, featured on the album "The Ride." Collen formed a blues project by the name of Delta Deep with vocalist Debbi Blackwell Cook of the 1980s group The Jammers, which released an eponymous debut album in 2015. In 2017, Collen was featured on three tracks of the reunited The Professionals album "What in the World." Collen joined

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

and

John Petrucci John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced (often with Mike Portnoy before Portnoy's absence from the band 2010-2023 ...

on the 2018 edition of the G3 Tour in the United States.

Personal life

Collen has lived in the United States for 35 years and currently resides in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

. He commented, "I'm almost a California native now." He has five children: Rory (b. 1990), Samantha (b. 2004), Savannah (b. 2009), Charlotte (b. 2014) and Jaxson (b. 2018). He was married to actress Jacqueline Collen-Tarolly (1989) and Anita Thomas-Collen (1999). He married actress and costume designer Helen L. Simmons in 2010. Collen is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and has been a vegetarian for 35 years. Collen is also colorblind. Collen is known for his dedication to fitness and has trained extensively in martial arts for over 20 years. He began his martial arts training in Kenpo Karate, earning a black belt. He also has studied kickboxing with Benny Urquidez and Muay Thai with Jean Carillo.

Equipment

In 1989, Collen worked with

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a brand of guitars sold by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Jackson was originally an independent manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars named after its founder, the American luthier Grover Jackson. Th ...

to develop the Jackson PC1, an "ergonomically correct" electric guitar, although according to Collen, he designed them because "they looked cool", and they ended up having bad balance, as well as a "really weird shape". , his live rig with Def Leppard consists of various Jackson PC1 guitars (some modified), all equipped with DiMarzio pickups,

Floyd Rose The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking Vibrato systems for guitar, vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company ...

tremolo units, and a Floyd Rose sustainer driver. Collen uses several Fender acoustic guitars. Collen uses D'Addario 0.13–0.54 and 0.13–0.56 gauge strings, and he uses steel picks.

Discography

With Girl

*'' Sheer Greed'' (1980) *'' Wasted Youth'' (1981) *'' Killing Time'' (1997) *'' Live at the Marquee'' (2001)

With Def Leppard

*''

'' (1983) (tracks 1–3, 6 & 7) *''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...

'' (1987) *'' Adrenalize'' (1992) *'' Retro Active'' (1993) *''

Slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

'' (1996) *''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

'' (1999) *'' X'' (2002) *'' Yeah!'' (2006) *'' Songs from the Sparkle Lounge'' (2008) *'' Mirror Ball – Live & More'' (2011) *'' Viva! Hysteria'' (2013) *''

'' (2015) * '' Diamond Star Halos'' (2022) *'' Drastic Symphonies'' (2023)

With Man Raze

* '' Surreal'' (2008) * '' PunkFunkRootsRock'' (2011)

With Delta Deep

* ''Delta Deep'' (2018)