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And then, I guess I woke up in a way that allowed me to see past the situation I found myself in."Īllen says, "Once I started actually playing drums again, I got it, and I realized that I could actually do this. I remember at a certain point, I was like, 'I don't want to do this.' I felt way too self-conscious, I felt completely defeated. So when I came round and started to get an idea of what had actually happened to me. Having been in a coma for a couple of three weeks, and during that time, they put my arm back on and then took it off, all during that same time period, and me not knowing a thing about it.
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And that's what really catapulted me into where I am now. He adds, "Love of family, love of people all over the planet, I really just discovered the power of the human spirit. Did I just want to disappear and sort of blend into the scenery? Or did I want to go on?" And that was really the crux of what I was dealing with. While a drummer losing his arm could have signaled the end of his career, as we have since seen the band stuck with Allen behind the drumkit and a special drumkit was designed to help him be able to play his parts despite the missing appendage.Īllen told Lafon, "I think the thing that the guys did for me, which took the pressure off, was they gave me time to make the decision whether I wanted to move forward or not. There were hundreds of thousands of letters but his stood out because he obviously knew what it would be like or he had an inkling of what it would be like to be a drummer and to be involved in something so horrific. Allen has become a pioneer in the new medium, utilizing drumsticks and rhythm to dictate abstract visuals on canvas.Reflecting on the letter, Allen told White, " just incredible words of encouragement. After years of personal photographic work, Allen ventured into the fine art world with a blockbuster debut collection of abstract artwork built from rhythm. Rick continues his work helping wounded warriors through Project Resiliency's Warrior Resiliency Program sponsored by his charity foundation the Raven Drum Foundation.Īn integral part of Rick's creative life went public in 2012. He was awarded the Humanitarian Award by Maria Shriver's Best Buddies in 2002 and in 2012, was also awarded the prestigious Wounded Warrior Project's Carry It Forward Award. Over the past 17 years, Rick has reached out to teenage cancer patients, children with special needs, at risk youth in crisis, families of domestic violence and veterans who have served in Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then, Rick has been reaching out and giving support to others all over the globe by sharing his personal experiences and his love of drumming. While he was already a hero to millions of young people, he soon added millions of new admirers. Rick lost an arm, but turned personal tragedy into spiritual transformation and continued his musical career. At the height of worldwide fame in 1984, he had a car accident that changed his life. But the originals, they're really everyone that's inspired me over the years and probably the reason why I do what I do and I play drums with DEF LEPPARD."Īllen became the drummer for DEF LEPPARD at age 15.
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Regarding how he creates his "Legends" paintings, Allen said: "I'll do originals, and then we'll do mixed media based off of those. I just really looked up to him, and he's inspired so many, so many players on the drums. I was really devastated when he went… I didn't know him well, but he was always such a gentleman.
#Def leppard drummer accident series#
DEF LEPPARD drummer Rick Allen, who has been expressing himself in recent years through his artwork, spoke to the BIG 100 radio station about his "Legends" series of paintings which includes Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon.Īllen, who started painting at an early age before he ever picked up the drums, said (see video below): "The last I did was Neil Peart.