Phil Collen on why Def Leppard’s first Diamond award is his most memorable moment

Music News Group6 hours ago

47 1 minute read

Phil Collen of Def Leppard performs onstage during Radio 2 In The Park at Hylands Park on September 7, 2025 in Chelmsford, England. (Photo by Katja Ogrin/Getty Images)

Phil Collen is the latest member of Def Leppard to reveal his most memorable moment of being in the band.

In a clip posted to Instagram, the guitarist says that while he’s not someone who tends to love awards, the time they got their first Diamond award for their 1987 album, Hysteria, stands out as a highlight of his career.

“We went to this party in New York … there’s us, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Billy Joel, Elton John and blah blah blah, everyone in the same room,” he explained. “And it didn’t really occur to me, the magnitude of everything we’ve been doing, because it was the first break we’d had in years, because we’d been touring, album touring, album touring and then we stopped.”

“I remember going up to this podium, and literally you would see Elton and Billy Joel and Jimmy Page and Dave Gilmour and all of these people, and it was like, it kind of hit home,” he continued. “So that was kind of special, not because it was an award, but it was because of where we’d come and how hard we’d worked.”

He notes the evening “was the first time I actually kind of sat down and was like, kind of realized what we’d actually achieved, so that was pretty cool.”

Collen’s recollection is part of a series of posts Def Leppard has been sharing since receiving their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 10. Joe Elliott, Viv Campbell and Rick Allen previously shared their most memorable moments.