Rick Allen

Allen was born on 1 November 1963 in Dronfield, Derbyshire to Kathleen Moore and Geoffrey Allen, and started playing drums at the age of nine. He performed in the bands Grad, Smokey Blue, Rampant, and the Johnny Kalendar Band. When he was 14, his mother replied on his behalf to an advertisement placed by a band called Def Leppard looking for a drummer to replace Tony Kenning ("Leppard loses skins" was the advertisement's headline). He later joined the band on 1 November 1978, which was his 15th birthday. In 1979, he dropped out of school to concentrate on a career in music. He celebrated his 16th birthday with a performance at the Hammersmith Odeon, when Def Leppard opened for AC/DC.

Allen was married to Stacy Lauren Gilbert from 1991 to 2000. In 1995, he was arrested for spousal abuse and was sentenced to a work crew and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He is married to Lauren Cuggino Monroe, who is also a musician and he has contributed to some of her albums. He is a vegan. On the weekend of 12 March 2023, while standing in the parking valet area of the Four Seasons Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was staying for a performance at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Allen was attacked by a "spring-breaker" who intentionally ran toward and collided with him, knocking him to the ground. He sustained a head injury. The attacker was apprehended and charged with several crimes.