Phil Collen has commented on Adrian Smith's audition for Def Leppard, saying the Iron Maiden guitarist was one of only five that got the call after Steve Clarke's passing in 1991. Collen made his comments while speaking to eonmusic at a press conference at Hellfest in Clisson, France, on Friday 16th June 2023.
Collen's comments echo those of drummer Rick Allen who told eonmusic, "I actually really loved the idea", during a July 2021 chat with the site.
Talking about the audition process to replace Clarke, Collen said; "we invited five people we knew, five friends, and Vivian [Campbell, the player who eventially got the job] just fitted in straight away. It was like it was meant to be. Adrian's great, [and] he's a great singer, and that was one of the other things [we were looking for]; if you can sing."
He continued; "There was some other people. We played with John Sykes, also an amazing player, amazing singer, but Vivian's voice was just unbelievable, but more than that, he just fit in the style of what we do."
Giving a tantalising glimpse into how Def Leppard featuring the more melodically-leaning member of Maiden sounded, the guitarist said; "with Adrian, he played in context with what we were doing when we were rehearsing, I mean, we were doing Def Leppard songs, we weren't doing Iron Maiden songs, we weren't doing Dio songs. So, whoever comes into our house has to play by the same rules".
Going on to talk about the emotional side of trying to replace founder member Clarke, he continued; "like i said, there was only five people; we didn't do casting calls or anything like that. It was still a bit painful after losing Steve, to be totally honest, so we wanted someone who emotionally, we could work with as a family member, amd Viv did, straight off the bat".
Adrian, who at the time of the auditions was not a member of Iron Maiden confirmed he had been in contention for the band telling eonmusic in 2020; "Yeah I was. I’m not sure… I want to write more books; that might be in my next one! [Laughing] There’s whole story about that.”
Talking about the audition process to replace Clarke, Collen said; "we invited five people we knew, five friends, and Vivian [Campbell, the player who eventially got the job] just fitted in straight away. It was like it was meant to be. Adrian's great, [and] he's a great singer, and that was one of the other things [we were looking for]; if you can sing."
He continued; "There was some other people. We played with John Sykes, also an amazing player, amazing singer, but Vivian's voice was just unbelievable, but more than that, he just fit in the style of what we do."
Giving a tantalising glimpse into how Def Leppard featuring the more melodically-leaning member of Maiden sounded, the guitarist said; "with Adrian, he played in context with what we were doing when we were rehearsing, I mean, we were doing Def Leppard songs, we weren't doing Iron Maiden songs, we weren't doing Dio songs. So, whoever comes into our house has to play by the same rules".
Going on to talk about the emotional side of trying to replace founder member Clarke, he continued; "like i said, there was only five people; we didn't do casting calls or anything like that. It was still a bit painful after losing Steve, to be totally honest, so we wanted someone who emotionally, we could work with as a family member, amd Viv did, straight off the bat".
Adrian, who at the time of the auditions was not a member of Iron Maiden confirmed he had been in contention for the band telling eonmusic in 2020; "Yeah I was. I’m not sure… I want to write more books; that might be in my next one! [Laughing] There’s whole story about that.”
