Best known for his stints with hard rock outfits
Thin Lizzy and
Whitesnake, guitarist
John Sykes was born July 29, 1959 in Reading, England. He began playing music at 14, and joined the group Streetfighter in 1980; a stint with
Badlands followed before
Sykes joined
the Tygers of Pan Tang, issuing the LP
Spellbound in 1981. After completing work on the album
Crazy Nights, he left
the Tygers to join
Thin Lizzy in time for the group's final studio LP, 1983's
Thunder and Lightning; the following year,
Sykes joined
Whitesnake, making his debut with the album
Slide It In. Their 1987 self-titled LP was the band's commercial breakthrough, with
Sykes teaming up with frontman
David Coverdale to author the hit "Is This Love?" Soon after finishing the record, however,
Coverdale dismissed the rest of the band, and
Sykes returned to England to form his own group,
Blue Murder, with drummer
Carmine Appice and bassist
Tony Franklin.
Blue Murder released three albums between 1989 and 1994 before dissolving. After touring with a reunited
Thin Lizzy,
Sykes issued the solo ballad collection Loveland in 1997.
20th Century, which appeared later that same year, was credited simply to
Sykes, which comprised the trio the guitarist had formed with bassist
Marco Mendoza and drummer Tommy O'Steen. The Chapter One compilation followed in 1998, and two years later,
Sykes issued Out of My Tree. ~ Jason Ankeny