Phil Collen shows how he wrote the riff to Def Leppard Hysteria classic Pour Some Sugar On Me

Def Leppard
(Image credit: Joseph Branston/Future)

Phil Collen is the latest artist featured on Jackson Guitars' Behind The Riff video series, and he's chosen to reveal all about how he contributed to one of Def Leppard's biggest songs, Pour Some Sugar On Me – the song that helped the band's 1987 album Hysteria break through in America after it its first few singles initially stalled. 

In the video he's using a 30th anniversary Jackson from 2009 that he customised with splatter paint, and reveals that the song came late in the album sessions, with the 'meat and potatoes' of the song come together in around half an hour.

The riff's key and timing was refined by producer mastermind Mutt Lange, who The Midnight's Tim McEwan cited as a key influence on their new album Heroes in our recent interview

"It was the best thing I’d ever heard" – Phil Collen talks Def Leppard's Hysteria track-by-track

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.