John Sykes

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2009) (Find sources: John Sykes – news, books, scholar)

John Sykes
Background information
Born	29 July 1959 (1959-07-29) (age 50) Reading, Berkshire, England
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1980 - present
Associated acts	Streetfighter, Badlands, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul

John Sykes (born 29 July 1959, Reading, Berkshire), is an English heavy metal/hard rock guitarist who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder, and his solo projects.

He was in a band called Badlands, with his one time Whitesnake bandmate Neil Murray (not to be confused with the band Badlands featuring guitarist Jake E. Lee).

Sykes co-wrote the majority of the songs on Whitesnake's 1987 self-titled album with David Coverdale, and recorded all of the guitar parts, with the exception of the solo on Here I Go Again. This was Whitesnake's most successful recording, selling over eight million copies in the United States alone, and contained the hit singles "Still of the Night", "Is This Love" and "Here I Go Again" (the last was not a Sykes composition).

After Coverdale fired the 1987-era band, Sykes went on to form Blue Murder, handling the guitar and vocal duties. After two studio albums and a live recording, Blue Murder was put to bed and Sykes began recording and touring under his own name.

In 1996, he reformed Thin Lizzy with Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, and Darren Wharton. As Phil Lynott had died a decade earlier, Sykes took on the lead vocal role as well.

In 1999, John Sykes's solo song "Cautionary Warning" was used in the anime series Black Heaven. The footage accompanying the song was rotoscoped from one of Sykes' concerts, which was a very striking statement for use in previews. Sykes' involvement in the series was the key feature of Pioneer USA's marketing.^{[citation needed]}

Touring occasionally with Thin Lizzy, a live recording One Night Only was released in 2000. He recorded Bad Boy Live! in 2004, covering a number of "greatest hits" from Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder, and his solo work.

Sykes made rare guest appearances on the Glenn Hughes/Joe Lynn Turner project first HTP album on the track "Heaven's Missing an Angel" and later on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's 2004 solo album "Mythology", playing alongside Zakk Wylde on the track "God Of War".

In 2006 Gibson Guitars began producing an "Inspired By" Gibson Les Paul Custom which was modeled after Sykes' main Les Paul.^[1] There were two versions available; an "aged" look (recreating the exact looks of John's Les Paul) and a "standard" or "VOS" model. This was a a limited edition run, with 66 aged look models created, and just over 100 VOS models created. ^[2]

On 7 June 2009, Sykes announced that he had parted ways with Thin Lizzy, stating that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own music".^[3]

Discography

With Tygers Of Pan Tang

• Crazy Nights (1981)
• Live At Nottingham Rock City (1981)
• Spellbound (1981)

With Badlands

Badlands demo tape (1982)

With Thin Lizzy

• Thunder and Lightning (1983)
• Thin Lizzy - BBC Radio One Live In Concert (1983)
• Life (1983)
• One Night Only (2000)

With Phil Lynott

• Live In Sweden 1983 (1983)

With Whitesnake

• Slide It In (US Version) (1984)
• Whitesnake (1987)

With Blue Murder

• Demo (1988)
• Blue Murder (1989)
• Nothin' but Trouble (1993)
• Screaming Blue Murder: Dedicated to Phil Lynott (1994)

Solo

• Please Don't Leave Me (1982)
• Out Of My Tree (1995)
• I Don't Wanna Live My Life Like You (1995)
• Loveland (1997)
• 20th Century (1997)
• Chapter One (1998)
• Best of John Sykes (2000)
• Nuclear Cowboy (2000)
• Bad Boy Live! (2004)

References

External links

• John Sykes' official website with news, merchandise, and information about his guitars
• The Official John Sykes My Space page