It stands as one of the most fascinating “what ifs” in hard rock history: the image of Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith trading the spot for the polished, multi-platinum Def Leppard. In a new interview with Spain’s MetalJournal.net, Smith finally opened up about his attempt to join the Sheffield giants in the early 90s, confirming that he did indeed fly to Los Angeles to audition for the spot left vacant by the tragic passing of Steve Clark.
Smith had departed Iron Maiden in 1990 during the sessions for No Prayer For The Dying, leaving him a free agent just as Def Leppard found themselves in need of a second guitarist following Clark‘s death in January 1991. According to Smith, the opportunity arose through a personal connection involving Leppard guitarist Phil Collen and a famed photographer.
“Yeah, I did. I went over to L.A. for a couple of days,” Smith revealed (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Phil [Collen] phoned me up — him and 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. We went through some songs. It sounded good, it sounded good. And they’re a great bunch of guys.”
Despite the positive musical chemistry, the union ultimately didn’t come to fruition. Smith cited timing as a significant factor, specifically noting his commitment to his post-Maiden solo project, Psycho Motel.
“But it didn’t work out. Plus I had — my Psycho Motel album was just about to come out, so I was kind of, you know… But who knows? It was worth pursuing. They did okay without me.”
The Def Leppard camp has previously shed light on this secretive audition process. Speaking at a press conference at Hellfest in June 2023, Phil Collen confirmed that Smith was part of an exclusive shortlist of five musicians invited to try out. This list also included former Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy virtuoso John Sykes.
“We invited five people we knew, five friends,” Collen recalled at the time. “We didn’t do, like, cattle calls or anything like that, because it was still a bit painful after losing Steve, to be quite honest. So we wanted someone who emotionally would work with us as a family member.”
Collen offered high praise for Smith‘s abilities, particularly noting that vocal ability was a key criterion for the band’s harmony-heavy sound.
“Adrian is great — he’s a great singer. That was one of the other things [we were looking for], if you can sing,” Collen said. “With Adrian, he played in context with what we were doing when we were rehearsing. I mean, we were doing Def Leppard songs — we weren’t doing Iron Maiden songs, we weren’t doing Dio songs; we were doing Def Leppard. So, whoever comes into our house has to kind of play by the same rules.”
Ultimately, the role went to another Whitesnake alumnus, Vivian Campbell, who Collen noted “fit in straight away.”
“Vivian‘s voice [was] unbelievable. And more than that, he just fit in the style of what we’re doing,” Collen explained. “Viv fit straight in… It was just wonderful.”
While Campbell has remained a core member of Def Leppard ever since, Smith eventually rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999, reclaiming his place in the metal pantheon.
