born to play loud: the vivian campbell story

Born to Play Loud is the first biography of Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell. Campbell’s full career is chronicled, from his early influences (Marc Bolan, Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore), his first semi-professional band, Sweet Savage, through to his first real musical break and success with Dio. Followed by a tumultuous breakup with Ronnie James Dio, Campbell toured with Whitesnake on the strength of their multi-platinum selling 1987 album.

In 1992 Campbell started what has become his decades-long relationship with Def Leppard. Campbell’s work with Lou Gramm in the band Shadow King, and his time spent with Riverdogs is also explored, all of which helps to shed light on Campbell’s evolution from heavy rock ’guitar hero’ to a more nuanced player who would rather serve the song with his playing than bring down the house with a 20-minute guitar solo.

Campbell also created Last In Line, basically a rebirth of the Dio band minus it’s frontman. In summing up, when Campbell received the Oh Yeah Legend Award in 2017, he said ’I am not used to getting awards. I am not a celebrity, the only people who know me are the hard rock fans and guitar junkies.’ The 2017 award marked some belated recognition for Campbell in his hometown. This book is an attempt to build on that acknowledgement and to introduce Campbell to a wider, modern audience.