John Sykes, Thin Lizzy & Whitesnake Guitarist, Dead at 65
John Sykes, Thin Lizzy & Whitesnake Guitarist, Dead at 65
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John Sykes, a guitarist who played for Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, is dead at 65. He died Monday “after a hard fought battle with cancer,” according to a statement from his website.
“It is with great sorrow we share that John Sykes has passed away after a hard fought battle with cancer,” the statement said. “He will be remembered by many as a man with exceptional musical talent but for those who didn’t know him personally, he was a thoughtful, kind, and charismatic man whose presence lit up the room.”
Tributes to Sykes came pouring in from across the music
About John Sykes
Sykes is often regarded as one of the greatest metal guitarists, be named to Guitar World’s list of “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time.”
The English rocker started his career playing for Streetfighter in 1980 and later Tygers of Pan Tang in 1981. He recorded two albums with the latter; Spellbound and Crazy Nights. He left Tygers of Pan Tang in 1982 after growing frustrated with the group.
After recording Please Don’t Leave Me with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott in 1982, Sykes was asked to join the group. He played on the band’s 1983 album, Thunder and Lightning, helping steer the band to more of a heavy-metal sound. The tour to support the album was billed as Thin Lizzy’s farewell tour, but Sykes and Lynott opted to continue on after then band disbanded. He’d accompany Lynott on a solo European tour.
Despite wanting to continue playing with Lynott, Sykes was invited to join Whitesnake, who he’d met on tour with Thin Lizzy. He made his official debut with the band in 1984. Sykes recorded guitar parts for the band’s 1984 record, Slide It In, which became Whitesnake’s commercial breakthrough in the U.S.
Sykes and Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale would collaborate on writing nine songs for Whitesnake’s self-titled 1987 record. Despite being a major contributor to the album, Coverdale fired Sykes and the rest of the band in 1986 due to a lack of trust he had for Sykes and producer Mike Stone. Coverdale toured in support of Whitesnake (1987 in Europe) with an entirely new band. Sykes later denied the rumors that he was pushing to replace Coverdale with a new frontman.
After leaving Whitesnake, Sykes formed and later fronted his own band; Blue Murder. The band released their debut record, Blue Murder, in 1989. The record only sold 500,000 copies, for which Sykes claimed Geffen Records, his label, under promoted the band in the hopes that he and Coverdale would reunite.
During the Blue Murder era, Sykes was rumored to be the next guitarist of Def Leppard, for which he recorded and sang backing vocals on their 1992 record Adrenalize, but the band went with guitarist Vivian Campbell. Sykes continued on with Blue Murder, which would later be dropped by their label and break up in 1994.
Sykes would reform Thin Lizzy in 1994 with former members Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton. The reformed band was a tribute to Lynott, who died in 1986 due to drug-related illness. The group would only perform from Thin Lizzy’s prior discography, opting not to release any new music. Sykes would front the band until 2009, opting to return to his solo career.
