Steve Clark Biography

Stephen Maynard Clark, popularly known as Steve Clark was an English musician and the principal songwriter and lead guitarist for the English hard rock band Def Leppard, until 1991, when he died from alcohol poisoning. He was ranked No. 11 on Classic Rock Magazine’s “100 Wildest Guitar Heroes” in 2007. In 2019, Steve was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Def Leppard in 2009.

Steve Clark Age | Nationality

He was born on 23 April 1960 and died on 8 January 1991 when he was 30 years old. Being born in Sheffield, England and dying in London, England, UK, he is of British nationality. His birth|zodiac sign is not yet revealed and will be updated as soon as possible.

Steve Clark Spouse | Divorced

During the time of his death, Clark was single and not dating anyone. He had dated Lorelei Shellist, an American model. The two were together since 1984 but broke up. The model revealed in her autobiography, Runway Runaway, that Steve’s addictions played a major role in their breakup.

After Shellist and Steve ended their relationship, Clark began a new relationship with Janie Dean which lasted until Clark’s death in 1991. Steve Clark had never been engaged to anyone despite rumors and false claims from Shellist.

Steve Clark Family

He was born to his parents Barrie Clark(father) and Beryl Beckingham Clark(mother). Further details are not yet known. He probably is the only child since details about his siblings are not given or available from other relevant sources. We will update you as soon as we hear from him.

Steve Clark Image

Steve Clark Songs

–  Pour Some Sugar on Me –  Love Bites –  Photograph –  Hysteria

–  Armageddon It –  Too Late for Love –  Rocket

–  Women –  Animal –  Bringin’ On the Heartbreak –  Foolin’

–  Let It Go –  Rock Rock –  Switch 625 –  Rock of Ages

–  Gods of War –  Rock Brigade –  Billy’s Got a Gun

–  High ‘n’ Dry –  Wasted –  Hello America –  Die Hard the Hunter

–  Lady Strange –  Run Riot –  Comin’ Under Fire –  Don’t Shoot Shotgun –  Love and Affection

–  You Got Me Runnin’ –  Mirror Mirror –  Rocks Off –  Excitable –  Me and My Wine

Steve Clark Education

As of educational background, not much is known. We only know that when he left school, his first employer was an engineering firm called GEC Traction where he worked as a lathe operator. Clark was 3 years into a 4-year apprenticeship with the firm by the time his band Def Leppard was signed to a professional record deal with Phonogram Records. Further details will be updated as soon as we get to hear from him.

Steve Clark Albums

–  Hysteria –  Pyromania –  On Through the Night –  High ‘n’ Dry –  Where the River Meets the Sea

–  Christmas in Dixie –  70’s Club Hits Reloaded Vol.1 (Best Of Dance, House & Techno) –  The Def Leppard E.P.

–  Historia –  60’s Club Hits Reloaded, Vol. 1 (Best Of Dance, House and Electro Remix Collection) –  Treasured Christmas Favorites

Steve Clark Career

Clark met Pete Willis, the Def Leppard’s original guitarist and founder at Stannington College in 1978. Willis spotted the blue-eyed blonde-haired, 18-year-old reading a guitar book and asked whether the latter played guitar. Willis invited him to try out for his band, ‘Def Leppard’, as they were looking to add a second guitarist. Clark auditioned for ‘Def Leppard’ by playing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’ without accompaniment.

It is after Clark joined Def Leppard as a guitarist that half of the songs for their debut album and independent E.P, “On Through the Night” was written. ‘On Through the Night’ reached No.15 in the UK chart. He became an indispensable asset to the band in a short time. Adept at guitar, Clark’s skill extended to songwriting and holds credit for 90% of Def Leppard’s songs.

The band worked on ‘High ‘n’ Dry’, their second album, with Pete Willis and Clark sharing the lead guitar duties. His talent and exceptional guitar playing skills inspired the name “The Riffmaster”, as he could create terrific guitar riffs in modern rock. He also made sure that the band never strayed from its hard rock roots.

‘Def Leppard’ while working on their third album ‘Pyromania’, in 1982, fired Peter Willis, due to his excessive drinking problems, and Phil Cohen took his place. Cohen and Clark quickly bonded and were known as “Terror Twins” based on their strong friendship.

Def Leppard got their big break with the release of Pyromania, in 1983, which launched the band into stardom. The album was selling 100,000 copies per week in the U.S. “Photograph”, the biggest hit from Pyromania was riffed by The Riffmaster himself. Their next album, ‘Hysteria’ was released in 1987 and sold about 25 million copies worldwide and 12 Million copies in the US itself.

Steve Clark Def Leppard

It is an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitars, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitars, backing vocals). This is the band’s longest-lasting line-up.

Steve Clark Death

He was found dead on his couch by Dean on 8 January 1991 on a Tuesday, he died when he was 30 years old. Steve was on a six-month leave of absence from Def Leppard during his death. The postmortem revealed that his cause of death was respiratory failure caused by a lethal mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs. He had a blood-alcohol level of .30 and morphine in his system.

Daniel Van Alphen who was Steve’s drinking companion the night before testified that they went to a local pub and returned to Clark’s home at midnight to watch a video. Clark was buried at Wisewood Cemetery located in Loxley, Sheffield, near the Clark family estate.

Steve Clark Trivia

He always noted that he was a traditionalist when it came to guitars. He believed in writing the right notes when he was classically trained which followed the rules of the music while his best friend Cohen jammed everything together.

Clark’s style was a mix of melody, classic rock cool and feel. His blues-rock combination had the power to blow anyone’s mind. Steve preferred to play guitars manufactured by Gibson Guitars.

Before the Hysteria world tour, he signed an endorsement with Gibson and the company made customized guitars for Clark. Clark chose a different way to strum the chords of his guitar. He used a method called inversions which required to play the chord without hitting the root notes first.

Also, Steve used triads, which gave a brighter sounding, however, weren’t the standard power chords. This made a significant difference in how the song sounded. Clark showed an interest in music from an early age, attending his first concert featuring Cliff Richard and the Shadows when he was 6 years old.

He received his first guitar when he was 11 years old which was purchased by his father on the condition that he learn to play. Steve studied classical guitar for a year before he first heard the music of Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin at a friend’s house.