On March 28, DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen made a trip to Mexico to visit Fender’s factory in Ensenada, play some tunes with his guitar tech (and occasional DEF LEPPARD fill-in guitarist) John Zocco on bass/backing vocals and Forest Robinson on drums/backing vocals, and be presented with a new guitar.Video of the private performance in front of around a hundred Fender employees can be seen below.Collen left school at 16 to work in a factory and as a dispatch rider. Influenced by guitar players such as Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Ronson, he soon developed a flashy, aggressive style of playing rock guitar. Phil quit his day job and he went on tour as a guitarist with the London-based post-punk glam rock band GIRL. Collen joined DEF LEPPARD in 1982 during the “Pyromania” album recording sessions, playing guitar solos on the hits “Photograph”, “Foolin'” and “Rock Of Ages”, among others. “Pyromania” was DEF LEPPARD’s breakthrough album and turned the band into rock superstars almost overnight. They spent the summer of 1983 at No. 2 on the Billboard chart, behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, the biggest-selling album of all time. “Pyromania” sold in excess of 10 times platinum and received a diamond award in the U.S. and Canada.Collen has been featured in outlets ranging from Rolling Stone, People, The New York Times to Guitar World, Inc. , Iron Man and beyond. Phil is an outspoken advocate for music, music education, animal rights, health and fitness and sobriety. In addition to his duties with DEF LEPPARD, Collen continues to write, perform and produce with MANRAZE, DELTA DEEP, TESLA and others. Collen released his memoir, “Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, And Beyond”, in fall 2015.This past January, DEF LEPPARD released a cover of Ben E. King’s 1961 classic “Stand By Me”. All proceeds from the song went to FireAid, which raises money for those impacted by the fires that swept through Los Angeles in early 2025.DEF LEPPARD’s version of the song is featured in the Netflix film “Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger”, which was released on January 10. The band can be seen performing the track before the credits.DEF LEPPARD’s first concert of 2025 took place on January 18 at Feria Estatal De León in León, Mexico. As was the case with the band’s October 14, 2024 private show in Nashville (as part of the Daimler Truck Customer Appreciation Event),guitarist Vivian Campbell was unable to join his bandmates at the León gig due to his cancer treatment and was replaced by Zocco.Campbell — who before joining DEF LEPPARD in 1992 was well known for his work with DIO and WHITESNAKE — went public with his Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis in June 2013.Vivian underwent three separate spells of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, only for his Hodgkin’s lymphoma to return.Six years ago, Campbell underwent spine surgery.Vivian and his DEF LEPPARD bandmates were finally inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2019 — 14 years after the British rockers first became eligible.DEF LEPPARD’s latest album, “Diamond Star Halos”, arrived in May 2022 via UMe.[embedded content][embedded content][embedded content]
