Viv's bio from Wikipedia

Vivian Campbell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vivian Patrick Campbell (born in August 25, 1962 in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) is an Irish rock guitarist, currently playing for Def Leppard. However, he was already known as a proficient guitarist in the early 80's, before joining the band in 1992, first with the Irish rock band Sweet Savage, then with Dio.

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Youth and Early Career
2 Sweet Savage
3 Dio
4 Whitesnake
5 Def Leppard
6 Side Projects
7 Equipment
8 Personal life
9 Discography
9.1 With Dio
9.2 With Shadow King
9.3 With Def Leppard
9.4 Solo




Biography

Youth and Early Career
Campbell began playing guitar at the age of 12 and lasted in school until the age of 16 when he was expelled from Rathmore Grammar School. He then went on to dedicate to his musical career joining several bands during the time. He has played for Sweet Savage, Dio, Trinity, Whitesnake, Riverdogs, and Shadow King. He also played on Lou Gramm's (from Foreigner) second solo album Long Hard Look.


Sweet Savage
Sweet Savage was a NWOBHM band that Vivian joined when he was 15. The band members in Sweet Savage including Vivian on guitar, Trev Fleming on guitar, David Bates on drums and Ray Haller on bass and vocals. The band influenced Metallica who covered the song Killing Time on their Garage Inc. covers album. In 1980 when Vivian was 18 Sweet Savage released their first single "Lady Marion". In 1981 they released 4 singles "Eye Of The Storm", "Ground Zero", "The Raid" and "Take No Prisoners". "Take No Prisoners" included the song "Killing Time". Much later in the late 90's after Metallica covered "Killing Time" there was intrerest in Sweet Savage and they released an album without Vivian. Vivian left Sweet Savage in early 1983 to join Dio after the band's original guitarist Jake E. Lee left.


Dio
When Vivian joined Dio, Ronnie had 3 songs that he had written while Jake was in the band-"Stand Up And Shout", "Don't Talk To Strangers" and "Holy Diver". All of these songs appeared on the album and became radio hits. Former Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain joined, completing the first line up. The band completed the album, which was a success and included Ronnie's biggest hit to date "Rainbow In The Dark". The tour was a success. Ronnie and Jimmy Bain played the keyboards on the Holy Diver album and they hired Claude Schnell to play keyboards during their concerts. A concert video, called In Concert, from this tour was released. The band also played at The Monsters Of Rock festival.

The band returned to the studio to write and record the follow up to Holy Diver. This album was called The Last In Line and was as successful as Holy Diver and charted at #23. "The Last In Line", "We Rock" and "Mystery" all became radio hits. Ronnie James Dio and Claude Schnell played the keyboards on the album and Claude once again played the keyboards at the concerts. The band continued to sell out arenas and play festivals. A concert video from this tour called A Special From The Spectrum was released.

After the tour the band started to work on the follow up to The Last In Line. Tensions grew between Ronnie and Vivian, and Vivian's playing was less inspired on this album. Sacred Heart was still a success, and still managed to peak at #29 in the U.S. the album had 2 hits in Rock N Roll Children and Hungry For Heaven. The tour was very successful too and had an over the top stage show featuring a huge Dragon. Also around this time the band recorded the song Hide In The Rainbow for the Iron Eagle soundtrack, which was the last song Vivian would record with Dio. A Live E.P., called Intermission, was also released. Vivian left after the tour and was replaced with guitarist Craig Goldy.


Whitesnake
In 1987, Vivian joined the British heavy metal band Whitesnake. Ex-Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang (Spellbound album only) axe-slinger John Sykes played the lead parts on the multi-platinum selling album simply titled Whitesnake, but he was fired by lead singer David Coverdale after the recording of the album, and Vivian replaced him for the subsequent world tour. Vivian was part of the new, glammed-up Whitesnake Coverdale had put together to conquer MTV and American audiences, also including Adrian Vandenberg, formerly of Teaser and Vandenberg, Tommy Aldridge of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Oak Arkansas fame, and Rudy Sarzo, having already become hugely successful playing with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. Vivian was fired after the 1987-1988 World Tour, because of "negative attitude'. Whitesnake's success would not outlast Campbell's tenure in the band by much.


Def Leppard
In 1992, Campbell joined rock band Def Leppard, after the release of their Adrenalize album. He replaced the late Steve Clark, who died on January 8, 1991. According to fellow guitarist Phil Collen, Vivian was able to lock right into the position very naturally by simply being himself. Campbell made his debut with the band by playing a show in a Dublin club to approximately 600 people. A week later, April 20, 1992, the band took the stage at the Freddie Mercury Concert for Life, with their new guitarist. They performed, "Animal," "Let's Get Rocked," and the Queen classic, "Now I'm Here", with Brian May.

He has spent the last 14 years with the band.


Side Projects
Aside of his work with Def Leppard, has played on the side with Clock and Riverdogs. In 2005 he also released a solo album called Two Sides Of If, which features cover versions of his favorite blues tunes and one original blues song. It features Z.Z. Top's Billy Gibbons guest appearing on the songs "Like It This Way" and "Willin' For Satisfaction", and Joan Osborne guest appearing on the song "Spoonful". The album also features drummer Terry Bozzio.


Equipment
Campbell plays Gibson guitars exclusively and was instrumental in designing the Kramer (now owned by Gibson) Nightswan electric guitar in the 80's.


Personal life
Campbell currently resides in Southern California with his wife Julie and their two daughters, Lily Rose and Una Marigold.


Discography

With Dio
Holy Diver (1983)
The Last in Line (1984)
Sacred Heart (1985)

With Shadow King
Shadow King (1991)

With Def Leppard
Retro Active (1993)
Slang (1996)
Euphoria (1999)
X (2002)
Yeah! (2006)

Solo
Two Sides Of If (2005)