Philip Kenneth Collen was born on the 8th December 1957, in Walthamstow, London, England, and a musician known as one of the guitarists of the group Def Leppard since 1982, following the departure of Pete Willis. Before joining Def Leppard he played in the group Girl. Collen has been active in the entertainment industry since 1974.
How rich is the musician? It has been reported by authoritative sources that the outright size of Phil Collen’s net worth is as much as $20 million, as of the data presented in late 2016. Music is the main source of his wealth.
Phil Collen Net Worth $20 Million
Talking about his professional career, Collen played in various hard rock bands including Lucy, Tush, Dumb Blondes and Girl; the latter had success in the UK with the albums “Sheer Greed” (1980) and “Wasted Youth” (1982). Moreover, their single “Hollywood Tease” managed to enter British charts.
In 1982, he replaced the guitarist in Def Leppard, Pete Willis, who was apparently effected by alcohol abuse. Phil quickly became an important person in the band, and together with Steve Clark created one of the best guitar duos known in the history of rock music; the two later became popularly called the terror twins, when the albums “Pyromania” (1983) and “Hysteria” (1987) reached international success. Collen and Clark produced very different music during the concerts of Def Leppard, with guitars riffs and lots of inventive chords. However, during the recording of the album “Adrenalize” (1991) Steve Clark died because of alcohol addiction, and after consuming a cocktail of alcohol, anti-depressants and painkillers, choking in his own vomit. Phil Collen took over all the guitar parts after the death of his colleague, and for a long time was the only guitarist in the studio, until the band was joined by Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell. In 2008, Def Leppard performed among others in the USA, as well as in various rock festivals in Europe and in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In 2008, they released a new album called “Songs From the Sparkle Lounge”, and in 2012, the band released the studio album “Pour Some Suger On Me / Rock of Ages”. Recently, the album under the same name “Def Leppard” (2015) has been released which topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums, Hard Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. All his efforts contributed to his rising net worth.
Meanwhile, Phil Collen also participated in other musical projects. The team Cybernauts recorded a live album with Joe Elliott, David Bowie and two members of the Spiders From Mars. This project was a single production, and alluded to the fascination with all glam rock performers. In 2004, Phil Collen founded his own project called Man-Raze, played the guitar and singing.
Finally, in the personal life of the musician, he has married three times, firstly to Jacqueline Collen(1990-05) and Anita Thomas(1999-2010). He married the actress and costume designer Helen L. Simmons in 2010. Phil has four children. Collen is known as a vegan. He resides in Orange County, Southern California.
