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 band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), ...

, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''Pyromania'' album. Prior to 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 that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...

scene. Outside of Def Leppard, with which he still records and performs live, he has been involved in a number of side projects most notably the trio

Man Raze Man Raze are an English three-piece alternative rock band originally from Finchley, London, England formed in 2004, featuring Phil Collen, Simon Laffy and Paul Cook. History Phil Collen made fans aware of the band for the first time during a ...

, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist.

Early life

Collen was born in Hackney, London. He got his first guitar, a red

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gi ...

, on his 16th birthday, and taught himself how to play. He played with several bands including Lucy, Tush, and

Dumb Blondes The Dumb Blondes were an English glam rock band. The band went through two line-ups, both featuring singer Jeff Hepting and bassist Pete Webb. The first line-up also featured current Def Leppard and Man Raze guitarist Phil Collen and drummer ...

. He left school to work as a motorcycle dispatch rider for a type setters until his band

Girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.c ...

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 ''Sheer Greed'' is the first album of the British glam rock band Girl, released in January 1980 by Jet Records. The album was published during the explosion of the new wave of British heavy metal phenomenon and its sales took advantage of the ...

'' 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 and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...

'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, is a Grade II*-listed building in Finsbury Park, London. The theatre was built in 1930 as a cinema. It later became a music venue. Today, the building is used by the Univer ...

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

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

replacing guitarist Dennis Stratton.

Def Leppard

Before Collen joined Def Leppard on 13 July 1982 during the recording of ''

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'', 'fi ...

'', he had previously been asked to consider joining the band during the 1981 tour for ''

High 'n' Dry ''High 'n' Dry'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on July 6, 1981. ''High 'n' Dry'' was Pete Willis' last full-time album with Def Leppard. It charted at No. 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 26 on t ...

'' by

Joe Elliott Joseph Thomas "Joe" Elliott (born 1 August 1959) is an English–Irish rock singer, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of the hard rock band Def Leppard. He has also been the lead singer of the David Bowie tribute ba ...

and

Steve Clark ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, whom he knew at the time. Despite this invitation, there was no need to replace

Pete Willis Peter Andrew Willis (born 16 February 1960) is an English musician, songwriter and guitarist, best known as a founding member of the band Def Leppard. He co-wrote many tracks and played guitar on the band's first three albums: ''On Through the ...

. As a result, Collen stayed as 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, which had developed into a serious addiction, stopped eating meat and adopted a generally healthy lifestyle. According to Collen, he began suffering from blackouts due to alcohol and quit when he realized that he was losing control of his addiction, which was starting to dominate his life. In contrast, Clark did not follow such standards and died due to alcohol abuse in early 1991. After Clark died, Collen was faced with the challenge of not only dealing with the loss of a friend and bandmate but also with the burden and responsibility of the ''

Adrenalize ''Adrenalize'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 31 March 1992 through Mercury Records. It is the first album by the band recorded without guitarist Steve Clark who died in 1991 and the only one recorded a ...

'' recordings. The music had already been written but Clark's playing style differed so much from Collen's that recording Clark's parts proved very difficult. While Clark's playing style was rhythmic, melodic and sometimes even characterized as "sloppy", Collen's style was technical and precise, leading to difficulties in mimicking the sound of Clark's playing style. 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 Joe Elliott, Collen did not want to continue in the band with Clark not being there. He 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 hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

, shortly before the ''Adrenalize'' tour. This 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

, formed as a joint collaboration with former

bandmate

Simon Laffy Simon Laffy (born 11 October 1958) is an English novelist and bassist, a member of Man Raze and former member of Girl. Career Simon Laffy was born at home in Hoxton, London. He started playing music at fourteen years old, inspired by his musici ...

as bassist and drummer Paul Cook from the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

. Collen played lead guitar on

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

'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,

, 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

. One of these recent projects was a tribute to

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

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, alt ...

and Mick "Woody" Woodmansey from

Spiders from Mars The Spiders from Mars were rock singer David Bowie's backing band in the early 1970s, and initially consisted of Mick Ronson on guitars, Trevor Bolder on bass guitar, and Mick Woodmansey on drums. The group had its origins in Bowie's earlier ba ...

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 issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

. 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 Jammers were an American boogie music group led by Richie Weeks and consisting of the members of Instant Funk, Weeks & Co and various Salsoul Records acts. Their hit song ''Be Mine Tonight'', composed by singer-songwriter Margaret Blount and produ ...

, 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 guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

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 former member Mike Portnoy before he departed the band in 201 ...

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

Personal life

Collen has lived in the United States for 25 years and currently resides in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

. He commented, "I'm almost a California native now." He has five children: Rory (born 1990), Samantha (born 2004), Savannah (born 2009), Charlotte (born 2014) and Jaxson (born 2018). He was married to 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 product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

and has been a vegetarian for 35 years. Collen is also colorblind. Collen has been training extensively in martial arts for over 20 years. He began his martial arts training in Kempo Karate, earning a black belt. He also has studied kickboxing with

Benny Urquidez Benny Urquidez (born June 20, 1952) is an American kickboxer, martial arts choreographer and actor. Nicknamed "The Jet", Urquidez was a non-contact karate competitor who later pioneered full-contact fighting in the United States. He made the tra ...

and Muay Thai with Jean Carillo. He currently works out off and on tour with Eric the Trainer.

Equipment

In 1989, Collen worked with

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guita ...

to develop 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." Recently, his live rig with Def Leppard consists of various Jackson PC1 guitars, some are modified, all equipped with Dimarzio pickups, Floyd Rose Tremolo Units and Sustainers. For acoustics, Collen uses several Fenders acoustics. For strings, Collen uses D'Addario 0.13 – 0.54 and 0.13 – 0.56 gauge strings, and for picks he uses steel picks.

Discography

With Girl

*''

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

'' (1987) *''

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

Slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gr ...

'' (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 d ...

'' (1999) *'' X'' (2002) *'' Yeah!'' (2006) *'' Songs from the Sparkle Lounge'' (2008) *''

Mirror Ball – Live & More ''Mirror Ball – Live & More'' is a double live album by English rock band Def Leppard released on 7 June 2011. The first full-length live album released by the band, it contains live recordings, three new studio tracks and a DVD containing bo ...

'' (2011) *''

Viva! Hysteria ''Viva! Hysteria'' is a double live album by the English rock band Def Leppard released on the 22 October 2013. The album was recorded on 29 and 30 March 2013 during the band's residency of the same name at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (La ...

'' (2013) *''

'' (2015) * ''

Diamond Star Halos ''Diamond Star Halos'' is the twelfth studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard. It was released on 27 May 2022 through Bludgeon Riffola and Mercury Records, and is the band's first studio album in nearly seven years since 2015's ''Def L ...

'' (2022)

With Man Raze

* '' Surreal'' (2008) * ''

PunkFunkRootsRock PunkFunkRootsRock is the second album by the band Man Raze. A music video for "Fire" was released. Track list # Over My Dead Body # I C U In Everything # All I Wanna Do # Closer to Me # Lies Lies All Lies # Get Action # Edge of the World # Dream ...

'' (2011)

With Delta Deep

* ''Delta Deep'' (2015)