Phil Collen
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Philip Kenneth Collen (born December 8, 1957 in Hackney, East London, England) is one of the guitarists for British rock band Def Leppard. He joined the band in 1982 following the firing of Pete Willis.
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[edit] Biography
Collen was born in Hackney, East London, England. Because of this region, he speaks with a Cockney accent. At the age of 16, Phil got his first guitar (a red Gibson SG), taught himself how to play, and left school to pursue a career in music. He then joined a line-up of early bands including Lucy, Tush, Dumb Blondes, and Girl. He'd known Joe Elliott and Steve Clark since 1981 from the London music scene and had been asked to consider joining then. However, there was no need to replace Pete Willis at the time.
When Willis was dismissed, Collen wasn't formally asked to join the band, only to come over and to do a few solos. His ability on the guitar impressed producer Mutt Lange and the band so much that he was instantly recruited. He quickly bonded with fellow guitarist Steve Clark, with whom he created Def Leppard's trademark dual guitar sound. He and Steve were even known as "The Terror Twins".
After Clark's death in 1991, Collen faced the challege of not only dealing with the loss of a friend, but also with the burden and responsibility of reproducing Clark's style while creating and recording all the guitar parts for their next album, Adrenalize. At this time he considered quitting the band, but remained steadfast.
On "Yeah!" the 2006 covers album by Def Leppard, Phil performed the lead vocal on "Stay With Me" (originally recorded by Faces).
[edit] Equipment
In 1989, Collen teamed up with Grover Jackson of Jackson Guitars to develop an ergonomically correct electric guitar called the PC Archtop. He has since designed three more Jackson electric guitar models (PC 1, 2 & 3). The PC1 is currently produced and sold through Jackson.
Phil uses steel guitar picks made by Dunlop. He plays GHS 12-52 strings tuned to E'flat.
[edit] Side Projects
Collen has worked in numerous side projects, some of them together with Joe Elliott. One of his recent side projects was a tribute to David Bowie and Mick Ronson. He and Elliott also got together with the Trevor Bolder and Mick "Woody" Woodmansey from Spiders from Mars and keyboardist Dick Decent to form Cybernauts. In 2001 they released a great live album of classic Bowie hits. In addition, Collen has also appeared on a number of other music projects.
Recently, Phil organized a band of his own called Man-Raze, comprised of former Girl bandmate, Simon Laffy, and the drummer from the Sex Pistols, Paul Cook. He also made a guest appearance with the band Sheer Greed on the song "Eveybody Wants" on their album Sublime To The Ridiculous.
[edit] Personal life
Collen currently resides in Southern California with his wife, Anita Thomas. He also has a son, Rory James Collen, from his past marriage to Jackie. He also has a daughter named Samantha with Michele.
[edit] Trivia
- Collen is a vegetarian.
- He practices kickboxing.
- He has been dubbed by some as "The Shirtless One", because he typically performs shirtless.
