Def Leppard 2000 – Present
 Def Leppard's debut album, On Through the Night, was released on March 14, 1980. Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences,[citation needed] with songs like Hello America and touring more in the US (supporting Pat Travers, AC/DC, and Ted Nugent). A performance at the Reading Festival in August (Iron Maiden also appeared) was marred when audience members expressed their displeasure by pelting the band with garbage.
The band had by then caught the attention of AC/DC producer Robert John Mutt Lange, who agreed to work on their second album, High 'n' Dry, released on July 11, 1981. Lange's legendarily meticulous approach in the studio helped them better realize the potential evident on On Through The Night.
Despite the album's unimpressive sales figures, the Bringin' on the Heartbreak promo clip became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982, bringing the band increased visibility in the States.
Phil Collen, former guitarist with the glam band Girl, replaced Pete Willis, who was fired on July 11, 1982, due to excessive alcohol consumption on the job. (Willis would later resurface with the bands Gogmagog and Roadhouse.) This personnel change took place during the recording of their third release, Pyromania, released on January 20, 1983, and also produced by Lange.
The lead single, Photograph, turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson's Beat It as the most requested video clip on MTV, becoming a staple of rock radio (dominating the US Album Rock Charts for six weeks), and hitting #12 on the pop charts.
Fueled by Photograph and subsequent singles Rock of Ages and Foolin', Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983, and was held off the top of the US album charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller. The album has since been certified Diamond by the RIAA in the US, and is considered a classic in both the mainstream rock and heavy metal genres.
Def Leppard's US tour in support of Pyromania began by opening for Billy Squier in March, and ended with a headlining performance before an audience of 55,000 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CA, in September.
As a testament to the band's popularity at the time, a US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted in as favourite rock band over peers such as the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. However, this popularity was not matched in their native England, a fact that greatly bothered them.
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