Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' Turns 35!!!
It was 35 years ago today (August 3rd, 1987) that Hysteria, Def Leppard released Hysteria -- its long-awaited followup to 1983's Pyromania. The album was the first to feature Rick Allen drumming after his 1984 car accident, which severed his left arm.
Hysteria also marks the last album to be released prior to the 1991 death of guitarist Steve Clarke from a lethal combination of alcohol and prescription drugs. Clark went on to write and perform on the posthumously released 1992 album, Adrenalize.
Hysteria, which finally hit Number One nearly a year after its release on July 23rd, 1988, spent six non-consecutive weeks on top of the Billboard 200, spawned six Top 20 hits -- including the chart-topping "Love Bites," "Animal" (#19), "Hysteria" (#10), "Pour Some Sugar On Me (#2), "Armageddon It" (#3), and "Rocket" (#12). To date, the album has sold over 35 million copies globally.