(July,29th 1959 – December 2024)
was an English guitarist
and singer,
best known as
a member of
Whitesnake,
Thin Lizzy
and
Tygers of Pan Tang.
He also fronted
the hard rock group
Blue Murder
and released
several solo albums.
Following a stint in the
heavy metal band
Tygers of Pan Tang
in the early 1980s,
Sykes joined Irish
hard rock group
Thin Lizzy
for their 1983 album
Thunder and Lightning.
He then joined
Whitesnake
with whom he
recorded the
multi-platinum-selling self-titled
1987 album.
However,
Sykes was fired
from the band
before the record's release
under acrimonious circumstances,
which led to him
forming his own group
Blue Murder.
After two albums
and a live record,
he embarked on a
solo career.
For the remainder
of the 1990s
and early 2000s,
Sykes split his time
between his solo career
and a reformed
Thin Lizzy,
which he fronted
until 2009,
when he left to
focus on
his solo career.
Early Career
Sykes made his
recording debut
on the Streetfighter
track
"She's No Angel",
which appeared on
the New wave of
British heavy metal
compilation
New Electric Warriors
in 1980.
Afterwards,
he left
Streetfighter
to join
Tygers of Pan Tang.
Sykes recorded two albums
with the group,
Spellbound
and
Crazy Nights,
which were both released
in 1981.
By the following year,
however,
Sykes had grown
frustrated with the band
as he and vocalist
Jon Deverill
would often butt heads
with the other members.
Additionally,
he felt the group
lacked both the style
and dedication
to achieve major success.
Sykes left
Tygers of Pan Tang
in early 1982,
two days before
the start of a
French tour.
However,
he appears on
two tracks
on the band's
fourth album
The Cage,
which was released
after he had
already departed.
After leaving
Tygers of Pan Tang,
Sykes auditioned for
Ozzy Osbourne's band
and was briefly
a member of
John Sloman's Badlands.
Despite a few shows
and Sloman
procuring a
recording contract
with EMI,
the group ultimately
broke-up.
After his departure from
Tygers of Pan Tang,
Sykes was still contractually
obligated to deliver
a single
to the band's label
MCA Records.
Through
Tygers of Pan Tang producer
Chris Tsangarides,
Sykes got in touch with
Thin Lizzy frontman
Phil Lynott.
The two co-wrote
and performed the single
"Please Don't Leave Me",
which was released in 1982.
The track also
featured fellow
Thin Lizzy members
Brian Downey
one month earlier.
Sykes performed
on the group's
1983 album
Thunder and Lightning,
for which he also
co-wrote the single
"Cold Sweat".
Sykes's inclusion helped
revitalise the band,
steering them towards
a sound more akin
to heavy metal.
The supporting tour for
Thunder and Lightning
was billed as
Thin Lizzy's farewell tour,
though Sykes and Lynott
were eager to
continue further.
During the tour,
the band recorded
the live album
Life.
Sykes also accompanied
Lynott on a
European solo tour.
Thin Lizzy
played their final
UK concert
at the Reading Festiva
l in August 1983,
before finally disbanding
after a show at
Nuremberg's
Monsters of Rock festival
on September 4th
Phil Lynott died on
January,4th 1986,
aged 36.
In 1994,
Sykes along with former
Thin Lizzy
members
Brian Downey,
Scott Gorham
and
Darren Wharton,
formed a
new touring version
of
Thin Lizzy,
which was presented
as a tribute to
Phil Lynott's
life and work.
While the band
only performed songs
from Thin Lizzy's
back catalogue
and did not compose
any new material,
they were still criticised
for using the
Thin Lizzy name
without Lynott.
In 2000,
the group released
the live album
One Night Only.
Sykes continued to front
Thin Lizzy through
various line-up changes
before announcing
his own departure in 2009,
stating:
"I feel it's time to get back
to playing my own music."
After Thin Lizzy's break-up,
Sykes was initially keen
to continue working with
Phil Lynott
in what would
become
Grand Slam.
However,
he was soon asked to
join English
hard rock group
Whitesnake,
whom he had met
while on tour with
Thin Lizzy.
After negotiating a
satisfactory contract
and receiving
Lynott's blessing,
Sykes agreed to
join the band.
He was then tasked
with recording
new guitar parts
for the
US release of
Whitesnake's
1984 album
Slide It In.
The record became
the group's
first major success
in the United States,
selling over
half a million copies.
Sykes played a
key role in this
newfound success,
with a more vibrant look
and sound compared to
the band's previous
guitar players
Sykes was known for his
distinctive playing style,
characterised by his
wide fret-hand vibrato,
use of pinch harmonics
and sense of melody.
In 2004,
he was included on
Guitar World's list of
"100 Greatest Heavy Metal
Guitarists of All Time".
In 2006,
Gibson released a
limited line of
John Sykes Signature
Les Pauls,
which were
modelled after
his 1978 Gibson
Les Paul Custom.
Since leaving Whitesnake,
Sykes's relationship with
Coverdale remained strained,
feeling
"very bitter"
about how Coverdale
handled his firing.
In the early 2000s,
there was a
"reaching out"
between the two
as Coverdale was
putting together a
new Whitesnake line-up.
By his account,
Sykes recommended
Marco Mendoza
and
Tommy Aldridge
to the band
(both of whom would end up joining),
after which he never heard
from Coverdale again.
Mendoza claimed to have
acted as a mediator of sorts
between the two.
Following his dismissal
from Whitesnake,
Sykes formed
which featured bassist
Tony Franklin
and drummer
Carmine Appice.
Initially,
drummer
Cozy Powell
and vocalist
Ray Gillen
were tapped to the project.
The former eventually left
to join
Black Sabbath,
while latter was let go
after Geffen Records'
A&R executive
John Kalodner
encouraged Sykes
to front the
band himself.
Blue Murder's
self-titled debut
album was released
in April 1989,
reaching number 69
on the Billboard 200 chart.
The band then embarked
on a tour across
America and Japan.
While their debut album
would go on to sell an
estimated 500,000 copies
according to Sykes,
Blue Murder's success
fell short of both
the band's and the label's
expectations.
Sykes felt
Geffen Records
did not promote
the group properly,
stating:
"I think they were trying to
get me and
David
[Coverdale]
back together.
They wanted me to
get back with the
'winning formula'.
But the wounds
were too fresh.
I stayed with
the same label.
In hindsight,
I would have done better
with a different label
After parting ways with
Geffen Records in 1994,
Sykes signed with the
Japanese branch of
Mercury Records
and released his
first solo album
Out of My Tree
in August 1995.
This was followed up by
Loveland
and
20th Century,
which were released
in 1997.
The former had
originally been
commissioned
by Mercury
as an extended
play of ballads,
while the latter served as a
companion record
to dispel accusations
that Sykes had
"gone soft".
All three albums
charted in Japan.
Following the release
Nuclear Cowboy in 2000,
Sykes attempted to
procure a European release
for his solo albums
through Z Records.
When this
didn't materialise
he signed a deal with
Burnside Distribution in 2003,
which made his
solo catalogue
available in the US
for the first time
On January,20th 2025,
it was announced
via a statement
on his
social media
and website
that Sykes
had died
from cancer;
his official website
indicated that he died
in December 2024,
at the age of 65
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