John Sykes
John James Sykes 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.
Influenced by the likes of Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Gary Moore, 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 Worlds 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.
Early life
John James Sykes was born 29 July 1959 in Reading, Berkshire. The Sykes family spent three years living in Ibiza, Spain, where John's father and uncle owned a discothèque. Afterward, they moved back to Reading.At age 14, Sykes took an interest in the guitar when his uncle showed him how to play some of Eric Clapton's licks. For the next two years, he practised playing blues songs on an old nylon-string guitar. Upon returning to Reading, Sykes entered a relationship and essentially gave up the guitar for a year and half. After moving to Blackpool, Sykes resumed playing and was asked to join the band Streetfighter by his friend Mervyn Goldsworthy, who would later play bass in Diamond Head, Samson and FM.
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.
Thin Lizzy
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 and Darren Wharton. Afterwards, Sykes was asked to join Thin Lizzy. He was officially confirmed as the band's new guitarist in September 1982, replacing previous guitarist Snowy White, who had quit the band 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 Festival in August 1983, before finally disbanding after a show at Nuremberg's Monsters of Rock festival on 4 September.Phil Lynott died on 4 January 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." Scott Gorham would later reform Thin Lizzy without Sykes's involvement.
Whitesnake
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. He made his live debut with the group in Dublin on 17 February 1984. Afterwards, Whitesnake embarked on a lengthy world tour, which culminated in two shows at the 1985 Rock in Rio festival.Sykes was heavily involved in the making of Whitesnake's next album, co-writing the majority of the songs with vocalist David Coverdale. The two began in the South of France in early 1985, before heading to Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver to begin recording. Sykes pushed the band towards a more mainstream sound, described by Coverdale as "leaner, meaner and more electrifying". As recording progressed though, Coverdale's relationship with the rest of the group began to sour and he summarily fired all the other members, including Sykes. When Whitesnake's seventh album was released in April 1987, it became the band's most commercially successful release to date, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 chart and selling over eight million copies in the US.
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, after which he never heard from Coverdale again. Mendoza claimed to have acted as a mediator of sorts between the two. Coverdale acknowledged speaking with Sykes about a possible reunion, but ultimately decided that the two had been "their own bosses" too long for it to work. In 2017, Sykes said of Coverdale: "I really have no interest in ever talking to him again."
Blue Murder
Following his dismissal from Whitesnake, Sykes formed Blue Murder, 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 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."
During the recording of Blue Murder's sophomore album, Franklin and Appice left the group; they were replaced by Marco Mendoza and Tommy O'Steen, respectively. At the same time, Sykes was in consideration to join Def Leppard. While no formal auditions took place, Sykes did jam with them and sang backing vocals on their 1992 album Adrenalize. Ultimately Def Leppard would hire Vivian Campbell, who incidentally had replaced Sykes in Whitesnake five years prior. Blue Murder, meanwhile, released their second album Nothin' But Trouble in August 1993. It failed to chart outside of Japan, which Sykes once again attributed to Geffen Records, who he felt "didn't do anything" to promote the record. In 1994, Blue Murder released a live album, Screaming Blue Murder: Dedicated to Phil Lynott, after which they were dropped from their label and broke up.
There were several attempts to reunite Blue Murder since the band's break-up. In 2019, Carmine Appice stated that the group had rehearsed together, but Sykes wanted to tour under the moniker John Sykes & Blue Murder, which Appice was unwilling to do. In 2020, Appice stated that he and Sykes had once again talked about the possibility of a Blue Murder reunion, but nothing ultimately came of the conversation.