And I just heard Bob Dylan is a Thin Lizzy fan,” claims Gorham. “Yeah, Bob, but where were you when we needed you, man?” Thin Lizzy Considering Return to the Studio". Billboard. 14 September 2009 . Retrieved 3 April 2011. L-R Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Brian Robertson (Image credit: Erica Echenberg/Redferns)

In April 2011 the band announced that Vivian Campbell would be leaving Thin Lizzy amicably to rejoin Def Leppard after one final gig on 28 May. He was replaced by Guns N' Roses guitarist Richard Fortus. [139] On 28 August, it was announced that Damon Johnson of Alice Cooper's band would be replacing Fortus for Thin Lizzy's tour of the US with Judas Priest. Fortus returned to tour with Guns N' Roses for the rest of the year, and Johnson has since replaced Fortus permanently. [140]

11: Do Anything You Want To

On 20 August 1996, Rude Awakening bassist Robert Ryder held "A Celebration of the Life of Philip Lynott" at the Palace in Hollywood, California, at the request of Lynott's mother, Philomena, to commemorate both Phil Lynott's birthday and the tenth year of his passing. Philomena Lynott, her partner Dennis Keeley, and Smiley Bolger (Ireland's Vibe for Philo promoter) were flown to Los Angeles by Ryder to make a personal appearance at the show. It featured concert performances by Rude Awakening, Billy Sheehan, Rudy Sarzo, John Norum, Carmine Appice, Phantom Blue, Soma, producer Roy Z and his band the Tribe of Gypsies, Mark Ferrari, Oslo, Bang Tango, Stash, Iron Cross and Irish singer-songwriter Mark Dignam. The beginning of 1982 was marred by both Downey and Gorham having to take breaks from the European tour to recover from personal problems. Downey was involved in a fight in a nightclub in Denmark in February, [101] and Gorham was suffering from drug-induced exhaustion. [102] Downey missed five concerts, and was replaced by Mark Nauseef again for three of them, and by Mike Mesbur of support band The Lookalikes for the other two. [103] In March, Gorham collapsed and returned home; eight concerts were performed as a quartet and six others were postponed. [103] In 2004, Thin Lizzy worked together again, with Sykes and Gorham bringing in ex- Angel bassist Randy Gregg, and drummer Michael Lee, who had played with Robert Plant and The Cult among others. They toured in North America in both the winter and then the summer as special guests of Deep Purple. This line-up proved temporary however, with Mendoza returning in 2005, and Aldridge returning in 2007. There were no plans for a new album though Thin Lizzy continued to tour. At the London Hammersmith Apollo concert of 13 December 2007, the line-up was Sykes, Gorham, Aldridge and Francesco DiCosmo on bass. [134] Lynott was also sold on the idea of two guitarists for pragmatic reasons. “Because if one of those c**ts walks out, there’ll be another one here,” he said.

Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous (1978, artwork by Sutton Cooper; cover photograph by Chalkie Davies; cover design conceived by Thin Lizzy and Chalkie Davies) The show must go on: when bands replace their dead stars". The Guardian. 27 January 2011 . Retrieved 11 December 2011. He’d lay on the floor of the dressing room after a show and the sweat would pool around him,” recalls Gorham. “I’d say: ‘That don’t look too good, Phil…’”

On The Go

The permanent departure of Robertson occurred some time after a gig in Ibiza on 6 July 1978, the disagreements with Lynott having reached a breaking point. [70] (Robertson then teamed up with Jimmy Bain to front their new band, Wild Horses.) Unquestionably Thin Lizzy’s greatest ballad, “Still In Love With You” was originally demoed early in 1974 by Phil Lynott, Brian Downey, and Gary Moore, and it played a key part in scoring the band a new contract with Polygram Records that same summer. The official studio version of the song appeared on November 1974’s Nightlife album and featured a duet between Lynott and guest vocalist Frankie Miller, but “Still In Love With You” really came into its own on stage. Embellished by Brian Robertson’s sumptuous lead guitar, the eight-minute Live And Dangerous version is truly unbeatable. 4: Don’t Believe A Word Before a tour of Japan beginning in September, Lynott decided to bring in another guitarist, Dave Flett, who had played with Manfred Mann's Earth Band, to enable Ure to switch to playing keyboards where necessary. The tour was completed successfully, but the line-up now contained two temporary members, and Lynott was spending a lot of time on projects outside Thin Lizzy, including composing and producing material for other bands, as well as putting together his first solo album, Solo in Soho. [82] Lynott also reactivated The Greedy Bastards, who released a one-off Christmas single, "A Merry Jingle", in December 1979 as simply The Greedies. With the group now composed of Lynott, Gorham and Downey with Sex Pistols Jones and Cook, the single reached No.28 in the UK. [83] Later years and break-up (1980–1983) [ edit ] The first steps towards Live And Dangerous were taken when Gorham and Robertson joined Thin Lizzy within days of each other. Part-Guyanese, part-Irish Phil Lynott had formed the group with Downey and original guitarist Eric Bell in their native Dublin in 1969.

I wish I could have been more like Brian Downey,” admits Gorham: “’No, I’m not into this cocaine and heroin thing…’” In true Thin Lizzy style, they even toured the live album, culminating with two dates at London’s Wembley Arena. Then Lynott and Robertson clashed again. Before the end of 1983, Lynott formed a new band called Grand Slam, but they were never able to secure a contract with a record company and split by the beginning of 1985. [114] Sykes and Downey initially agreed to be a part of the band, but Sykes joined Whitesnake and Downey also changed his mind. Lynott began to focus more on his solo career and enjoyed a No.5 hit single " Out in the Fields" with Gary Moore in May 1985. [115] The song, composed by Moore, was taken from his solo album Run for Cover featuring various contributions from Lynott. Lynott's solo efforts did not fare so well, and his last single, "Nineteen", only reached No.76 in the UK. [116]Thin Lizzy without Lynott (1996–present) [ edit ] 1996–2010: John Sykes era [ edit ] John Sykes fronting the reformed version of Thin Lizzy in 2007 Towards the end of 1973, Eric Bell began to feel constricted with the changing style of the group, which left less room for free-form jamming and had people wanting the band to create a follow-up hit to "Whiskey in the Jar". Matters came to a head during a gig on New Year's Eve 1973 at Queen's University Belfast, where he walked off stage halfway through the show and had to be persuaded to finish the set. [39] The next day, he quit the group, and was immediately replaced by ex-Skid Row guitarist Gary Moore to help finish the tour. [40] Moore stayed until April 1974; the band recorded three songs with him in that time, including the version of " Still in Love with You" that was included on the fourth album Nightlife. [41] He left the group after being concerned about his health and struggling to compete with Lynott for control, and formed Colosseum II with Jon Hiseman. [42] Lynott’s piratical charm and showmanship was in full effect too. It’s impossible to listen to the original Emerald without thinking about of its un-PC live-album intro: “Is there any of the girls that’d like a little more Irish in them?” The final touch was photographer Chalkie Davies’s arresting cover shot, showing Lynott, leather-trousered legs spread, cradling his bass and staring into the middle distance.

Phil Chapman (1 October 2017). The Dead Straight Guide to Queen. This Day In Music Books. p.128. ISBN 9781787590502. In April 1981, the band's first 'greatest hits' album was released, and The Adventures of Thin Lizzy reached No.6 in the UK, although a stand-alone single, "Trouble Boys", only reached No.53, the band's worst chart placing since 1975. [91] According to White [92] and Wharton, [93] Lynott was the only person who wanted to release it, and nobody else liked the song. "Trouble Boys" had even been pencilled in as the title for the new album, but the single's chart failure resulted in the song being dropped from the album and the title changed to Renegade. [94] One highlight for the band at this time was headlining the first-ever Slane Castle concert on 16 August, with support from Kirsty MacColl, Hazel O'Connor and U2. [95] Ritchie, Gayle (6 July 2020). "50 years of Thin Lizzy: Remembering the night frontman Phil Lynott took a tumble and fell into a Kirkcaldy crowd". Nostalgia. The Courier . Retrieved 9 March 2021. Europe guitarist John Norum covered "Wild One" on his 1987 debut solo album Total Control. [4] Europe covered "Suicide" on their 2008 live album Almost Unplugged. [5] a b Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p.278. ISBN 978-1894959025.

Thin Lizzy – Black Rose: a Rock Legend

In 1997, Tommy Aldridge filled in on drums when Brian Downey was unable to, and became a full member when Downey left shortly thereafter. This line-up remained stable through to 2000, when the group recorded a live album, One Night Only. The band went on to tour the US playing clubs in early 2001, but Wharton had already left the band by the time of the tour. From 2000 to 2003, Mendoza toured with Ted Nugent, and with Whitesnake in 2004. Sykes released two solo albums during 2002–03, while Gorham worked with his band 21 Guns. Thin Lizzy performed sporadically during this period, recruiting some musicians for single tours, such as bass guitarist Guy Pratt for the Global Chaos Tour of 2003. [131] A boxed set of four CDs of Thin Lizzy material was released in December 2001 as Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels. It contained all of the band's major hits, and included some rare songs, such as the first single "The Farmer", and single B-sides. [152] In 2004 and 2006, two further greatest hits compilations were released, with 2004's double CD Greatest Hits climbing to No.3 in the UK album chart. [153] While Lynott was ill, he wrote most of the following album, Johnny the Fox. The album was recorded in August 1976 and the sessions began to reveal tensions between Lynott and Robertson; for example, there was disagreement over the composition credits of the hit single "Don't Believe a Word". [54] Lynott was still drawing on Celtic mythology and his own personal experiences for lyric ideas, which dominated Johnny the Fox and the other albums of Thin Lizzy's successful mid-1970s period. [55] The tour to support the album was very successful and there were further high-profile TV appearances, such as the Rod Stewart BBC TV Special. [56]