The ONLY True Vintage Signed Example We’ve Encountered Obtained During the Legendary 1983 Pyromania World Tour!
Here is an exceedingly rare 1983 U.S. (Mercury) first pressing of Def Leppard’s third studio album Pyromania, signed on the back cover by all five original bandmembers. Joe Elliott, Phil Collen, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, and Steve Clark have all signed in black felt tip pen. Each bandmember has signed beautifully by their respective images. The album cover was signed during the U.S. leg of the “Pyromania” tour on June 2nd, 1983, following the band’s performance at Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA. Comes with a Starflight Travel Company ‘Upstrokes’ hotel rooming list for all the bandmembers, including their real names, plus the amusing alias’s they traveled under. Also, included on the rooming list are Robert Allen, drummer Rick Allen’s brother, and the band’s tour manager from 1978-1983, as well as Mike Usher, the band’s driver and photographer, who’s final tour with the band was Pyromania.
We all think of Pyromania as Def Leppard’s iconic breakthrough chart-topping album. But Pyromania’s creation was not without considerable internal drama. The recording process began under a cloud as the band were involved in a legal dispute with their management company. The band were also heading into major debt of almost £1 million as recording costs spiraled. During the recording sessions, Joe Elliott suffered vocal problems, plus the band grappled with mounting technical issues inside the studio. To make matters worse, midway through the sessions, on July 11th, 1982, guitarist Pete Willis was fired due to excessive alcohol consumption on the job and was replaced by Phil Collen the following day. Despite all these challenges, and with the help of legendary producer Mutt Lange, the album achieved monumental success in the U.S. charts while catapulting the band into the mainstream.
No doubt, this success was aided by three massive hit singles. The lead single, "Photograph", quickly shot to No. 1 in the U.S. charts, and turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson's "Beat It" as the most requested video on MTV and becoming a staple of rock radio, while sparking the band’s first headline tour across the US. The second single, “Rock of Ages”, also reached No. 1 in the charts. Fueled by "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", and their third single "Foolin'" (also a Top 10 hit), Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year!) and was held from the top of the US charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller. With the album's massive success, Pyromania was the catalyst for a new wave of British heavy metal. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 384 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2004, Pyromania was certified 10x Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Today, Pyromania is widely considered among the band’s greatest achievements.
Just months after the Pyromania world tour came to an end, on December 31st, 1984, Rick Allen suffered a car crash that severed his left arm near his home in Sheffield, UK. Then further tragedy struck on January 8th, 1991, when principal songwriter and lead guitarist Steve Clark died of alcohol poisoning. As such, signed Def Leppard items with the classic Steve Clark line-up are exceedingly scarce. To date, this is the finest fully signed Pyromania album cover that we have encountered, including the legendary Steve Clark. A remarkable 1983 vintage-signed copy of Def Leppard’s seminal work! The cover and original vinyl are in excellent condition.
Accompanied by full Letters of Authenticity from Beckett Authentication Services (BAS) and music autograph authority Roger Epperson/REAL Authentication.