Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen is featured in a new interview with Business Jet Traveler. He discusses is formative years, working with his wife, Lauren Monroe, and his career with Def Leppard. Following is an excerpt:

Q: After your accident, at first you felt your life was hopeless. How did you recover?

Allen: "One thing that really helped was hundreds of thousands of letters from all over the planet offering support. The big step for me was discovering the power of the human spirit and to stop comparing myself to how I used to play drums and embrace uniqueness."

Q: You've said you've worked hard to accept the purpose of your life. What is that purpose?

Allen: "I do what I do because I want people to feel good when they see me doing it. I love being in a position where I can inspire people and hopefully because of all the trauma that I've been through, I can somehow be a beacon of light for people."

Q: You’ve said that playing drums is meditation. Can you explain?

Allen: "It's my happy place. I feel like I go to a healing zone, almost like an open-eyed meditation. I find that with music and art and any of the work I do with Lauren and Raven Drum."

Read the complete interview here.

Rick Allen, and his wife Lauren Monroe - along with the Raven Drum Foundation - continue their mission to provide trauma recovery & healing for veterans and First Responders. In support of this effort, they are auctioning off some fantastic packages for upcoming shows in the US in August.

Each package includes two seats for the show (best available to the band), a Meet & Greet with Rick prior to the show, a drumhead signed by both Rick and Tommy Lee, and a one night stay at a hotel close to the venue!

Bidding ends today, Wednesday, June 21, around 5 PM, Pacific (8 PM, Eastern). Bid here.

Shows available:

August
8 - Ohio Stadium - Columbus, OH
11 - Fargodome, Fargo, ND
13 - Charles Schwab Field - Omaha, NE
16 - Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium - Tulsa, OK
18 - Sun Bowl Stadium - El Paso, TX

Also available in this auction:

- Drumhead signed by Rick Allen & Tommy Lee
- See Godsmack with Staind in California, including 2 tickets, Shannon Larkin signed drumsticks, and a hotel stay

2023 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Lauren Monroe. The singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and healing arts practitioner and educator is thrilled to announce the upcoming single, “Brave,” a string of summer shows with Rick Allen, and a partnership with Chateau Diana to benefit Raven Drum Foundation, the organization she and Allen co-founded in 2001.

Raven Drum Foundation (RDF) serves, educates, and empowers trauma survivors and communities in crisis, with a focus on Veterans and First Responders. By integrating advocacy, storytelling, music and arts programs and events, we bring the tools and experiences of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to support and inspire mental health, resiliency, and unity. For the past several years, RDF has hosted the 12 Drummers Drumming online auction, featuring items and experiences donated by legendary musicians, including Taylor Swift, Stewart Copeland, Ringo Starr, Matt Sorum, Zac Hanson, and Todd Sucherman (of Styx). The latter served as the catalyst for the partnership with Chateau Diana Winery.

Chateau Diana owner and president, Corey Manning, is a drummer who has learned to use his music to process PTSD and grief since tragically losing his brother to suicide in 1999, and his family home in the Tubbs Fire of 2017. After being introduced to RDF by Sucherman, Manning - and his business partner/sister, Dawn Manning - worked to create a special line of wines featuring artwork by Allen and Monroe, and based on three of Monroe’s heartfelt songs. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to RDF. The wines are currently available on Chateau Diana’s website and at their tasting room in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley of Healdsburg, CA.

In addition to her work with Raven Drum Foundation - which also includes hosting healing workshops and other special events - Monroe is currently working on new music, the follow-up to Messages From Aphrodite. That album, released in 2022, garnered praise from esteemed outlets such as American Songwriter, Paste Magazine, The Boot, Americana Highways, Glide Magazine, and many more. Her first original offering of 2023 is “Brave,” dropping on July 7.

"Can you show me what is kind? Are we brave enough to be kind? These questions have continually filled my heart over the years, How we treat one another, our children, our animals, the earth. It’s overwhelming. This song came as a reaction to gun violence towards children. It came spontaneously as I tried to process yet another senseless school shooting.There has been tragedy after tragedy placed in our lives, leaving so many numb without hope, I had to find hope. I had to feel hope,” Monroe says. “‘Brave’ is an invitation to explore questions — Can you show me what is kind? Are we brave enough to be kind? — and step into a life of empathic leadership. An invitation to take courageous steps into creating a society that holds compassion and tolerance at its core. This is my call-to-action song, and I’m asking others to become bold with the intention of becoming unapologetically loving. I can’t think of a reason not to be ready, not to be emboldened by the cause of love. We are all so tired of this. There’s no other way toward change, and bravery is what it’s going to take to speak, think, and act in the name of love to reclaim our hope.”

“Brave” can be saved here.