The band's greatest commercial success came between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Their first album, 1980's On Through the Night, reached the Top 15 in the UK but received little notice elsewhere. Their second album, 1981's High 'n' Dry, was produced by Mutt Lange, who helped them begin to define their melodic hard rock style, and the album's most popular track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982, but the album only reached the Top 30 and 40 in the UK and US. Def Leppard's next studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983, with "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages" both topping the US Rock Tracks chart and reaching the top 20 of the Hot 100. Reaching No. 2 on the US album chart, Pyromania was certified Diamond in the US and 7× platinum in Canada and reached the top 20 in the UK but did not sell much elsewhere.
Def Leppard's fourth album, the more pop-oriented Hysteria (1987), topped the UK, US, New Zealand, Canadian, Australian and Norway charts. It also went to No. 2 in Sweden and No. 10 in Germany without any Top 50 singles in those countries. It has been certified 12× platinum for sales in the US and 13× platinum in Canada, selling over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. The album spawned six Top 20 US singles, including the US Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "Love Bites" (went Top 10 in several other countries including No. 2 in NZ), alongside "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (US No. 2), "Hysteria", "Armageddon It" (No. 2 in NZ), "Animal" (at No. 6, the biggest UK hit), and "Rocket" (a Top 15 hit in many countries). Hysteria had four Top 10 hits in New Zealand.
Their next studio album, Adrenalize (their first following the death of guitarist Steve Clark), reached No. 1 on the UK, US, NZ, Canadian and Australian charts in 1992, while going Top 10 in Sweden and Germany. It contained several hits, including the US Rock Tracks chart-topper, "Let's Get Rocked", which became their biggest hit in several countries, including No. 2 in the UK, No. 3 in Canada and Switzerland, and the Top 20 in Sweden and Germany. The third single, "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad", was a Top 15 song in the US, UK and Canada. Adrenalize went on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide. Their 1993 album, Retro Active, contained the acoustic Top 5 North American hit "Two Steps Behind". Their greatest hits album Vault, released in 1995, featured the UK No. 2 hit "When Love & Hate Collide" and reached the Top 10 in several countries, going 5× platinum in the US. Beginning with Slang, Def Leppard released five albums between 1996 and 2008, with most usually reaching the Top 15 in several countries, including the UK, US and Canada. Their self-titled album was released in 2015 and reached the Top 10 in several countries. The band's newest studio album, Diamond Star Halos was released in May 2022 and reached the Top 10 in the US, the UK and Australia.
As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification: Pyromania and Hysteria, making them one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling more than 10 million copies in the US. The band were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and ranked No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Def Leppard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
Studio albums
On Through the Night (1980)
High 'n' Dry (1981)
Pyromania (1983)
Hysteria (1987)
Adrenalize (1992)
Slang (1996)
Euphoria (1999)
X (2002)
Yeah! (2006)
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (2008)
Def Leppard (2015)
Diamond Star Halos (2022)
Little Wing
Def Leppard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With a circus smile that's running round
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales
That's all she ever thinks about
She's riding with the wind
When I'm sad she comes to me
With a thousand smiles she gives to me free
Take anything you want from me, anything
Anything, yeah
Well she's walking through the clouds
With a circus smile that's running round
Oh, butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales
That's all she ever thinks about
She's riding with the wind, yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah little wing
The lyrics to Def Leppard's song "Little Wing" present a dreamy, almost psychedelic image of a woman who seems to live in her own imaginative world. She walks through the clouds with a circus smile, and her thoughts are dominated by butterflies, zebras, moonbeams, and fairy tales. The repeated mention of her smile and her cheerful demeanor suggests that she may be oblivious to the harsh realities of the world outside her imagination.
The singer of the song seems to be drawn to this woman, perhaps because her free-spiritedness and whimsical outlook offer the perfect antidote to his sadness. When he's feeling down, she comes to him with "a thousand smiles," assuring him that everything is all right and telling him that he can take anything he wants from her. The lyrics don't explain how or why the two of them are connected, but it's clear that the woman's infectious joy has a profound effect on the singer.
Overall, "Little Wing" is a song that celebrates the power of imagination, joy, and kindness to lift us out of our troubles. The woman in the song may or may not be a real person, but she represents a spirit of hope and resilience that the singer seems to need in his life.
Line by Line Meaning
Well she's walking through the clouds
She's living in her own world, detached from reality.
With a circus smile that's running round
She always has a smile on her face, even if it's not a genuine one.
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales
Her mind is filled with imagination and whimsical thoughts.
That's all she ever thinks about
She's consumed by her own dreams and ideas, never living in the present.
She's riding with the wind
She's free-spirited and goes with the flow.
When I'm sad she comes to me
She's there for the singer when he's feeling down.
With a thousand smiles she gives to me free
She brings happiness to the singer's life.
It's alright, she says, it's alright
She comforts him and reassures him that everything will be okay.
Take anything you want from me, anything
She's willing to give him anything he needs to feel better.
Well she's walking through the clouds
Reiteration of her detachment from reality.
With a circus smile that's running round
Reiteration of her fake smile.
Oh, butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales
Reiteration of her whimsical mind.
That's all she ever thinks about
Reiteration of her detachment from reality.
She's riding with the wind, yeah
Reiteration of her free-spirited nature.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah little wing
End chorus, the repetition of her nickname.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jimi Hendrix
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Joshua Ng
And laddies and gentlemen, here is a legendary song by a legendary artist, covered by another legendary band.
Tracie Mason
I have been looking for this version for a long time! LOVE THIS VERSION!!
leps75
A timeless song, that seems to be perfect for a re-edition at least once every 10 years. I sincerely don't want to choose. I luv this version just as much as SRV and Hendrix 's.
irishninja19801
I think they did a really good job on this, I like Hendrix's of course. They're both good in their own way
Joseph Williams
Awesome I never knew Def Leppard did " Little Wing " The Jimi Hendrix song but I think of Stevie Ray Vaughan his version...
Carlin Torres
Joseph Williams ir i dont make a mistake...today is the 40 th anniversary of The Máster Jimi...i dont knew that Def made a coger of this song...till toda y...
Jeanie
Wow~ just WOW~! This is beautiful!
Why, I ask you, have we never heard this on the radio any time in the last three decades?????
Jeanie
:) Hahaha! So true! Thanks for posting. Please post more gems. I enjoy so much!
Jakub Michalski
because you don't listen to my radio show haha i played it last year and some people were REALLY surprised :) the best musicalways gets played in small shows in small stations that nobody listens to ;)
Amer Ali
Ladies n Gentlemen, no one needs to beat anyone in music. Its all about togetherness, not on who is better than who, every band plays it differently, thats why its a cover tune .