One of the most successful hard rock acts in the 1980s was Def Leppard, who by the end of the decade had sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. Tragedy struck the band in 1984 when, as a result of a car accident, drummer Rick Allen had his left arm amputated. Nothing, however, could have prepared Def Leppard for the morning of January 8, 1991, when guitarist Steve Clark was found dead in his London flat from an accidental overdose of alcohol and prescription drugs.
Stephen Maynard Clark was just 19 years old when he joined Def Leppard in the winter of 1978. Like the rest of his band, Clack saw rock and roll as a means to escape the dreary factory-life existence of his native Sheffield, England.
Def Leppard achieved international success with Pyromania, their third album in 1983. A mixture of hard rock riffs, pop melodies and the layered guitars of Clack and his guitar partner, Phil Collen, the album came to define the Leppard sound. It was during the ensuing tour that the band began to fall prey to drugs and alcohol. The two guitarists, in particular, were christened the “Terror Twins” due to their excesses.
By the time Def Leppard re-entered the studio to record 1987’s Hysteria, Collen had sworn off alcohol, Clark, on the other hand, had not. With the loss of his drinking partner, Clark became isolated, and his drinking increased.
As Clark increasingly turned to the bottle, the band’s producer, John “Mutt” Lange, looked to Collen to record the album’s guitar parts—a situation that only fueled Clark’s depression. His condition worsened during the 13-month Hysteria tour, and afterwards, he spent time in as many as six different rehab clinics.
At the time of Clark’s death, he was taking painkillers for a back injury, as well as anti-depressant medication. The official coroner’s report stated the cause of death as respiratory failure due to a compression of the brain stem, resulting from a mixture of alcohol and prescriptions. He is buried in England’s Wisewood Cemetery.
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