They started in their teens and served up one of the greatest 1, 2, 3 punches in music history – the seminal crunch of 1981’s High N’ Dry, followed by the razor-sharp arena rock of Pyromania in ’83, to their genre-smashing, 12x platinum, multi-layered masterpiece, 1987’s Hysteria. To date, Def Leppard have sold over 100 million records worldwide, and acts as diverse as Slayer, Metallica, Taylor Swift, and Tim McGraw cite them as a major influence.

What’s it like to ride that wave? Founding guitarist, vegan kickboxer, and one of the nicest guys in rock, Phil Collen, gets it all down in his new memoir, Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond. We caught up with him to talk about the book and the band’s forthcoming album – their 11th – the self-titled Def Leppard.

So what’s the key to playing guitar with your shirt off at age 57 & still looking great?
It’s a really easy fix but no one’s prepared to do it, y’know? Eating right and not drinking alcohol. Or if you are drinking, not much of it. And being a bit active. Honestly, it’s that simple. It amazes me no one will do that!

Yeah, but you’re not just fit, you’re jacked.
When I was lifting heavy I would have a vegan protein powder, and I still do occasionally but I try to balance it out. I’ve always done a lot of martial arts and I take a kick bag on tour and do a lot of drills so that keeps me loose and supple and basically young. That’s the fountain of youth part. I actually screwed my back up a few months ago and I could only do two things that didn’t hurt — push-ups and pull-ups on a bar. So that’s all I did with some really light crunches. I’ve been doing this a lot of years so I’ve been able to figure out what works and what does not. You can get away with a lot less, just by tweaking it here and there.

You mention working with legendary kickboxer Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. Have you ever sparred with Duff McKagan?
I haven’t! I trained with Benny in the late 90s and I believe Duff still trains with him now. Duff and I have spoken about it since we have such fond memories of Sensei Benny.

A revelation from Adrenalized – you’re still not an official member of Def Leppard.
Right! (laughs) I think they did sneak me in there somewhere though.

Why did you decide to write a memoir now?
I didn’t, actually. I was at the Gerson Institute for a fund raiser and a friend of mine, Chris Epting, who’s my co-writer, suggested I write a book. I don’t really like the idea, as it seems egotistical but Chris convinced me we could do it in a different sort of way.

This was my takeaway on the secret of Def Leppard’s success: You were frugal, loyal and never forgot your working class roots.
I’d say you hit it bang-on the head. That’s it in a nutshell. It’s like fitness in that it’s not rocket science, but few are willing to do it. Our parents grew up in war-torn England with the Blitz going off trying to kill them and buildings blowing up here and there and they took that value system and instilled it into us. I think the further you get away from that sort of suffering and hard work, the less respect and honor people have in their everyday lives. All the guys in Def Leppard had that same working class background and it was based on those values. Even down to things like not wasting water, because there were rations.

I loved the part where you’re on the biggest tour in the world but you still refuse limos.
Absolutely! But then again, we were also surrounded by really cool people. At first we said, “Limos are great!” Then Peter Mensch, our former manager, would say “Guys, let me break it down for you…”
So we were fortunate that we had people who would nurture us and explain those things. A lot of bands don’t know or simply don’t care. Even with our management, it was very much a team and a family. And it still is to this day.

Click here to read more.