Dick Decent

Dick Decent

Def Leppard Sidekick Dies From Drug Side Effects

by Roger Wink, VVN Music on September 21, 2012

in News

Dick Decent was not a regular member of Def Leppard, but he occasionally sat in with on tour and played in Joe Elliott and Phil Collen’s Cypernauts side project.

Dick Decent

Dick Decent

On Thursday, guitarist Vivian Campbell issued the statement:

It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Dick Decent, super-talented musician, friend, and occasional keyboard player for Def Leppard. He was a young man and he should have lived a lot more life. Our time here is short and never fully in our control. Live well and be good to each other.

Decent had been living with the side effects from the drug Ciprofloaxin and Ofloxacin for the last few years which he had taken for an illness. He wrote at length about the drugs 2-1/2 years ago in his blog.

My own Floxing started on Nov.13/09 and didn’t finish until Jan.12/10.
I am too ill and in shock to post any more right now, but if you take anything away from this post, let it be an insistence on NOT TAKING ANY FLUOROQUINOLONE ANTIBIOTICS…. EVER… for ANY REASON. Even if your GP sez it’s OK… DON’T TAKE THEM.
There are ALWAYS other alternative antibiotics, NONE of which have HORRIFIC side effects that can last more than a DECADE plus.
NEVER TAKE ANY FLOX.. EVER!

Decent was born in Birmingham and started writing music for his first rock band while he was still in grammar achool. Along with playing in a variety of bands, he received his teaching certificate from the Academy of Music and taught in local schools, something that “opened up some new and interesting avenues for me, allowing me to teach other aspects of the business, fulfilling niches in the modern music curricula, such as solo and group performance skills, composition and arrangement in contemporary music, and studio skills such as engineering and production.”

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