Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith has spoken about his 1991 try out for Def Leppard, as the Sheffield band sought to move following the tragic loss of guitarist Steve Clark.
During a time-out from the band to deal with his alcohol addiction after the completion of the Hysteria world tour, Clark died at home in London on January 8, 1991, due to mixing prescription drugs and alcohol. And Smith was one of five guitarists invited to try out for the band as they searched for a replacement.
Speaking about his invitation, Smith told the Metal Journal podcast, "Phil [Collen, Def Leppard guitarist] phoned me up - him and [photographer] Ross Halfin phoned me up - and said, 'Would you be interested in coming over?' I said, Yeah. So I went to L.A. I played with him for a couple of days, I sat down with Phil and we we went through some songs.
"It sounded good," Smith recalls. "And they're a great bunch of guys. But it didn't work out, so... Plus my Psycho Hotel album was just about to come out, so I was kinda [indicates '50:50' thoughts on the idea]. But who knows? It was worth pursuing.
"They did okay without me," Smith concludes with a smile.
