This bio is missing a lot.. information on him is scarce
Richard Jon Cyril Allen was born to Geoffrey and Kathleen Allen on November 1, 1963 in Derbyshire,
England.
Allen obtained his first
drum kit at the age of ten after "pestering" his parents and paying for half of it himself. He joined Smokey Blue (a local band) but eventually tired of the scene. At the age of 15 he replaced Frank Noon as
drummer for
Def Leppard right before they signed the record contract with
Polygram/
Vertigo.
In December of 1984, Rick's
Corvette slammed into a wall while he was attempting to pass a car, severing his left arm. The arm was reattached after 10 hours in
surgery but fate was not on his side as infection forced doctors to
amputate 4 days later. Work on the
album Hysteria was halted for a while until Rick started learning how to play a custom made electronic kit, and the ball finally started rolling again.
Once Rick mastered playing the new drum kit, was actually said to be better than when he was when he played with both arms. In 1995, he started using
acoustic drums again for part of the album
Slang. He currently lives with his girlfriend and daughter in
California.