Adrian Smith was in contention to join Def Leppard following the death of guitarist Steve Clarke in 1991.
That was rumoured and now it is confirmed by Def Leppard’s drummer, Rick Allen. While speaking to Eonmusic about his upcoming in-person art shows at Wentworth Gallery in Atlantic City and King of Prussia on July 10 and July 11, 2021, Allen said: “I actually really loved the idea!”. Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith had revealed in an Eonmusic interview (August 2020), that he was indeed in line for a spot with Def Leppard. Smith was asked if it was true that he was in contention to join Def Leppard, to which he answered, “I was, yeah. I’m not sure… I want to write more books; that might be in my next one! There’s a whole story about that, there’s a whole story about that”.
Now Rick Allen, in a new Eonmusic interview, confirmed that Smith had been on the Def Leppard radar for the role that was eventually landed by Vivian Campbell. Other guitarists, who were in the list for the guitar slot, were an unknown Birmingham guitarist and John Sykes. Allen said exactly: “I loved the idea! It’s interesting — you put somebody in a slightly different situation and new things are revealed about them, and it was cool. It was a compliment that he was so into it”.
