Def Leppard

Def Leppard in many ways were the definitive hard rock band of the '80s. There were many bands that rocked harder and were more dangerous than the Sheffield quintet but few others captured the spirit of the times quite as well. Emerging in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the group actually owed more to the glam rock and metal of the early '70s -- their sound was equal parts T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Queen, and Led Zeppelin.