“Rik told me, ‘Don’t hold back. Do your thing. I don’t want people to see a diluted Phil X, so be you.’ He’s right. I’ll be me”: Phil X on taking to the stage with Canadian rock heroes Triumph – and how he’s switching up his Bon Jovi rig for the occasion

Although Canadian rockers Triumph were traditionally a power trio with one guitarist – Rik Emmett – if the band were to add an extra six-stringer for, say, an unexpected but very real spring 2026 tour, Toronto-born Phil X is the guy.

Yes, he can rip it up with the best of them, but – in 1992 and 1993 – he actually was in Triumph, even supplying all the guitars to 1992’s Edge of Excess, the only Triumph album that doesn’t feature Emmett, who had left the band in 1988.