Rock fans and contemporaries are mourning the death of a musician who had his biggest hits in the 1980s.
John Sykes, an English guitarist who was a member of both Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, died after a hard fought battle with cancer, his official Facebook page said Monday. He was 65.
“He will be remembered by many as a man with exceptional musical talent but for those who didn’t know him personally, he was a thoughtful, kind, and charismatic man whose presence lit up the room,” an official statement said. “He certainly marched to the beat of his own drum and always pulled for the underdog. In his final days, he spoke of his sincere love and gratitude for his fans who stuck by him through all these years. While the impact of his loss is profound and the mood somber, we hope the light of his memory will extinguish the shadow of his absence.”
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Sykes appeared on Thin Lizzy’s final album in 1983, “Thunder and Lightning” with late frontman Phil Lynott, before joining Whitesnake for two albums, including the hard rock band’s 1987 multi-platinum self-titled release that featured hits “Here I Go Again,” “Is This Love” (co-written by Sykes) and “Still of the Night.”
“Just heard the shocking news of John’s passing,” Whitesnake singer David Coverdale wrote on X and Facebook. “My sincere condolences to his family, friends & fans.”
Sykes also performed in Tygers of Pan Tang, fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder, and released several solo albums. According to Blabbermouth, he once recorded songs with Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan for a project that was never released.
“Absolutely shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of the great John Sykes. As many of you might know, John & I spent a lot of time working together back in 2011 when we were planning on launching a new band. We even demoed 12 of his songs and went on That Metal Show together to announce the project,” Portnoy said Monday. “Sadly it never went anywhere and the demos never saw the light of day, but working with him and spending as much time together as we did provided me with so many great memories. He was an incredible talent and it was an honor to work with him. Such a sad loss.”
Sykes was named one of Guitar World’s “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time” by Guitar World in 2004. Two years later, Gibson released a limited line of John Sykes Signature Les Paul guitars modeled after his 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
Fellow rockers paying tribute to Sykes include Guns ‘N Roses legend Slash, Alter Bridges’ Myles Kennedy, and Poison’s Ricki Rockett.
“So sad to hear John Sykes passed away,” Kennedy wrote. “He had a profound influence on me and my friends when we were young. He wrote great riffs and songs. He could sing and looked cool as hell doing all of it. What a lead player. Great tone, phrasing, and technique. THAT WIDE VIBRATO! 🔥The Whitesnake, Blue Murder, and Thin Lizzy recordings he was on contain some of my favorite guitar moments to this day.”
“I’m am saddened about the news of my bandmate John Sykes,” said Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge and Blue Murder fame. “I’m shocked about his passing. We played such great music and had such great times together . Check out Blue Murder 1, and The Cry of Love albums. John’s playing, writing and singing were amazing …I loved him like a brother.”
”This man was a brilliant guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. Checkout his work beyond the legendary Whitesnake album. Thin Lizzy, Blue Murder. RIP #johnsykes,” Lita Ford guitarist Patrick Kennison wrote.
“There are no words to describe how I feel about John’s guitar playing. He was absolutely a phenomenon,” Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes added. “RIP Dear one. The angel is now in heaven,Love you.”
