Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a rock guitarist from Northern Ireland. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio, and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark). Campbell has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs, and Shadow King.\n', '

Campbell began playing guitar at the age of 12 with a Telecaster Thinline and Carlsbro Stingray amp. When he was 15, Campbell joined Teaser, which went on to become Sweet Savage, a NWOBHM band. In 1981 they released an EP consisting of four BBC radio sessions and their first single, "Take No Prisoners". The band\'s song "Killing Time" was later covered by Metallica as a B-side for their "The Unforgiven" single, and was included on Metallica\'s Garage Inc. covers album. Campbell left Sweet Savage in early 1983 to join Dio after guitarist Jake E. Lee was offered Randy Rhoads\'s spot as Ozzy Osbourne\'s lead guitarist in December 1982.[citation needed]\n', '

When Campbell joined Dio, Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, and former Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain had most of the songs to the album Holy Diver already written. The album was a success and included Dio\'s biggest hit, "Rainbow in the Dark". A concert video, called In Concert, from this tour was released. The band also played at The 4th Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England in August 1983 and Monsters of Rock, Nurnburg, Germany in 1984.\n', '

Return to Vivian Campbell Autograph Profile