On January 20, 2025, one of my all-time guitar heroes, John Sykes, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. He was only 65. Like a great many rock guitarists, John’s emotional, chop-laden lead work and well-crafted riffing had a huge influence on me. Ditto his larger-than-life tone.
In my humble opinion, though, outside of guitar playing circles this great man was criminally underrated.
A rock guitarists’ guitarist in the truest sense of the term, John spawned many instantly-memorable riffs, and crafted great songs too. He had one of the widest and most soulful fretboard hand vibratos I’ve ever heard. And he delivered it all with a visceral no-holds-barred gusto.
To my ears he was always going for it; and the resulting excitement was, and always will be, palpable and inspiring – even when heard through puny smart-phone speakers. Don’t Stop By, Gangland and Do It Good by the Tygers of Pan Tang; Crying in the Rain, Give Me All Your Love and Bad Boys by Whitesnake; Riot, Billy and Cry for Love by Blue Murder all have the same effect: they make me want to pick up my guitar and have at it.
He could also sing really, really well. Well, at least he wasn’t good-looking with a striking stage presence – scratch that. John possessed both of those qualities by the truckload, darn him!
I first saw him performing with the Tygers of Pan Tang in 1980 in Manchester, England. To say I was completely blown away by what I saw and heard would be a gross understatement. And he’d only just joined the band! He was the same age as me but he totally left me choking in his dust, darn him again!
I tried to console myself by thinking, “Perhaps he was just having one of those magical, perfect nights we all have once in a blue moon.” Not true. As 1981 Tygers albums Spellbound and Crazy Nights proved in quick succession, what I’d witnessed that night was the norm for John Sykes.
And I wasn’t the only one he inspired at that time. Marty Friedman recently said on Eddie Trunk’s radio show: “When John Sykes came out on the Spellbound album, it was like, ‘This was a game changer for me.’ He was the first guy in that genre that I heard that I was like, ‘Wow – these lead guys can really take an exciting part of the band’s sound.’”
Marty continued: “He was an extremely important influence on myself, and a lot of the people I’ve met over the years. Everybody in the world of heavy metal, hard rock and guitar owes a lot to him.”
John’s time in the Tygers was short; he went on to co-write the glorious single Please Don’t Leave Me with Phil Lynott in 1982. Not surprisingly, he was soon asked to join Thin Lizzy – but sadly, the album Thunder & Lightning and its tour was a last hurrah, as Lynott decided to close the Thin Lizzy book in 1983.
When that Whitesnake album came out we were all just stunned
Steve Vai
Thunder & Lightning remains one of my favorite Thin Lizzy albums; and I’ve always considered John’s riffing, soloing and tone in Cold Sweat to be the gold standard.
He re-emerged in early 1984 as a member of Whitesnake; and just like he’d done with the Tygers and Lizzy, he breathed new life into David Coverdale’s outfit – which definitely helped their Slide It In album make major headway in America. Once the tour cycle was over, John hunkered down and co-wrote nine new songs with Coverdale for 1987’s Whitesnake album, which has sold over 8 million copies in the US alone.
Unfortunately Coverdale had fired John and the rest of the band by the time it was released. But everyone knew who the bold trailblazer in that music was, and John’s stature as a bona fide guitar hero was written in stone.
While his soloing on Whitesnake is staggering, his rhythm work, songwriting and arranging are all equally impressive. In a recent interview with Cassius Morris, Steve Vai said of John: “He was such a phenomenal rock guitar player. When that album came out we were all just stunned. He really captured that audio real estate with a guitar tone and a playing style that created a fever. He was really a great player and a great guitar orchestrator.”
He said he wanted to work more on his own material; but instead he went quiet
John’s next move was Blue Murder project – a power-trio supergroup with Tony Franklin of The Firm on bass and the legendary Carmine Appice on drums. Their self-titled 1989 debut album showcased John’s many talents perfectly. Sadly it didn’t become the hit the label had expected, and the band started to fizzle out.
Franklin and Appice both left in the early ‘90s, leaving John to put together a new lineup. In 1993 a second studio album, Nothin’ But Troublehit the streets, followed by the excellent live offering Screaming Blue Murder: Dedicated to Phil Lynott a year late. But the label dropped Blue Murder and the group disbanded.
John moved on to sign a new deal in Japan, and released his first solo album, Out of My Treein 1995. At the same time he reunited with former Thin Lizzy members Scott Gorham (guitar), Brian Downey (drums) and Darren Wharton (keyboards) as a touring version of the famous band, taking lead vocals himself.
Three more solo albums followed – Loveland (1997), 20th Century (1997) and Nuclear Cowboy (2000) – and a live album too: Bad Boy Live! (2004). A Thin Lizzy live album, One Night Onlywas released in 2000, and although the band continued to tour with various lineups, John called it a day in 2009. He said the reason was to work more on his own material; but instead he went quiet… very quiet.
While I never met John, his playing and writing remains a profound influence on me, and he continues to inspire many others too. In my recent YouTube appearances with “Uncle” Ben Eller and Satchel of Steel Panther, John is deservedly mentioned often, with much reverence and respect.
I mean, timeless, hooky riffs and songs; smoking solos; great tone; and that vibrato, wider than a four-lane highway… what’s not to love? Rest in peace, Mr. Sykes. Thank you for all the amazing music, playing and continued influence you blessed us with.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings