THE BEST YOU
WEALTH & RICHES
RICK ALLEN
SOLOMON NORTHUP
FINDING A WAY TO PLAY
TIME SERVED
My situation should have been a lot worse. By rights I shouldn't have survived the crash.”
Life is dear to every living thing; the worm that crawls upon the ground will struggle for it.”
Rick Allen was meant to be a drummer. Born in Dronfield, England, Allen quickly outgrew his native environs and played his way onto a world stage. Playing the drums came so naturally to him that Allen’s mother responded to an advertisement on his behalf for a band in search of a drummer. That band turned out to be Def Leppard, and Allen was only 14. Once he became the permanent drummer, the band immediately began opening for larger acts, such as AC/ DC. As the band was just beginning to ride high from the success of their debut album, Allen was involved in a tragic car accident. In a savage twist of fate, Allen’s left arm was severed from his body. While many would have seen an accident as a reason to give up, Rick Allen had already come too far. He collaborated with a specialty drum manufacturer and created a drum kit that allowed him to use a series of foot pedals to make up for the drum strokes his left arm usually would have played. After intense training and practice, Allen was able to master this unique method of drumming and ultimately returned to the Def Leppard line-up full time. He remains the band’s drummer to this day. Rick Allen instead chose to see his situation as a problem; which he solved with determination and self-belief.
In the early 19th century, Solomon Northup had unique circumstances. Both his parents were free people of colour in pre-Abolitionist America, so Solomon and his brother were born free. Solomon’s father educated both sons in a manner that at the time was considered only fitting for whites. When Solomon reached adulthood, he worked several jobs over the years to maintain an affluent life for his wife and children. He was also a well-regarded and talented violin player. While he was pursuing a gig, he was kidnapped by by white slave traders masquerading as entertainers. He was shipped off, ripped from his family and life he had known. Northup spent the next 12 years in captivity, enduring much abuse at the hands of sadistic masters. He wrote letters to white friends back in New York who could help him, but they could not lend aid for over ten years because they did not know his location as he was sold and resold. A childhood friend eventually managed to locate Solomon and secure his freedom. Solomon Northup was one of the lucky few to know freedom again after wrongful enslavement. He was reunited with his wife and children and wrote a bestselling narrative focusing on his experiences as a slave in the cruel American south. Chiwetel Ejiofor (pictured above) portrays Northup in the film, 12 Years a Slave.
• “RICK ALLEN IS LIVING PROOF THAT WE CAN OVERCOME ALMOST ANY CHALLENGE. HE IS A TRUE INSPIRATION TO NOT ONLY ARTISTS TO FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS, BUT TO EVERYONE.”
• “SOLOMON NORTHUP WAS HANDED A GREAT INJUSTICE. NO MAN DESERVES TO GO THROUGH WHAT HE WENT THROUGH. LUCKILY HE WROTE A MEMOIR TO TEACH US ABOUT HUMAN CRUELTY.”
– BERNARDO MOYA – BERNARDO MOYA
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