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About Phil
Because of his upbringing in Hackney, Collen speaks with a Cockney accent. At the age of 16, Phil got his first guitar (a red Gibson SG), taught himself how to play, and left school to pursue a career in music. He then joined a line-up of early bands including Lucy, Tush, Dumb Blondes, and Girl. He'd known Joe Elliott and Steve Clark since 1981 from the London music scene and had been asked to consider joining then. However, there was no need to replace Pete Willis at the time.
When Willis was dismissed, Collen wasn't formally asked to join the band, only to come over and to do a few solos for the Pyromania album. His ability on the guitar impressed producer Mutt Lange and the band so much that he was instantly recruited. He quickly bonded with fellow guitarist Steve Clark, with whom he created Def Leppard's trademark dual guitar sound. He and Steve were even known as "The Terror Twins".
After Clark's death in 1991, Collen faced the challenge of not only dealing with the loss of a friend, but also with the responsibility of reproducing Clark's style while creating and recording all the guitar parts for their next album, Adrenalize. At this time he considered quitting the band, but remained steadfast.
Equipment
When he first joined Def Leppard, Collen was often seen playing an Ibanez Destroyer II guitar, even appearing in promotional materials for Ibanez.
In 1986, Collen teamed up with Grover Jackson of Jackson Guitars to develop an ergonomically correct electric guitar called the PC Archtop. He has since designed three more Jackson electric guitar models (PC 1, 2 & 3). The PC1 is currently produced and sold throughJackson (who is now owned by Fender).
Side Projects
Collen has worked in numerous side projects, some of them together with Joe Elliott. One of his recent side projects was a tribute to David Bowie and Mick Ronson. He and Elliott also got together with the Trevor Bolder and Mick "Woody" Woodmansey from Spiders from Mars and keyboardist Dick Decent to form Cybernauts. In 2001 they released a great live album of classic Bowie hits. This album is no longer for sale and will never be re-released because of it's limited edition production. In addition, Collen has also appeared on a number of other music projects.
Recently, Phil organized a band of his own called Man-Raze , comprised of former Girl bandmate, Simon Laffy, and the drummer from the Sex Pistols, Paul Cook. He also made a guest appearance with the band Sheer Greed on the song "Eveybody Wants" on their album Sublime To The Ridiculous.
Personal Life
Collen currently resides in Southern California with his wife, Anita Thomas. He also has a son, Rory James Collen, from his past marriage to artist Jacqueline ("Jacki") Collen-Tarrolly. He also has a daughter named Samantha.
Within the past few months, Collen has joined PETA , (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
"It started freaking me out eating dead body parts. The whole (cannibal serial killer) Jeffrey Dahmer fridge concept of things was weird. It started when I was a kid, but you know, you have that whole parent propaganda when they say, 'Oh no, you got to eat this, and it's OK,' and even when you go, 'Well, that chicken is kind of like a dog,' and they go, 'Come on, eat, eat, eat your meat,' and I always felt kind of uncomfortable," Collen told PETA.
He also filmed a Public Service Announcement for the group.
Click here to view Phil's PSA.
