John Sykes dead at 65

Brainy Lane · Post by **Brainy Lane** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:54 pm

https://blabbermouth.net/news/legendary ... dead-at-65

Earlier today (Monday, January 20),the following statement was posted on Sykes's social media: "It is with great sorrow we share that John Sykes has passed away after a hard fought battle with cancer. 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.

Indy_Rob · Post by **Indy_Rob** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:57 pm

Damn. Sad. Did anyone know he had cancer?

Eddie Trunk will be on suicide watch.

Zinny · Post by **Zinny** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:01 pm

Sad news.
I wish he would have released more music.
He made some killer albums with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake & Blue Murder!
RIP.

eddie lee roth · Post by **eddie lee roth** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:05 pm

Indy_Rob wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:57 pm Damn. Sad. Did anyone know he had cancer?

Eddie Trunk will be on suicide watch.

First time I heard that too.

NineteenEightyFour · Post by **NineteenEightyFour** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:09 pm

Dude was a legend in my opinion...RIP

Cool tune with Ray Gillen and Tony Franklin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBDSWo8_8Q

FreddyFender · Post by **FreddyFender** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:30 pm

One of the greatest hard rock guitarists in my book. Insane tone, monster riffs, great songwriting, soloing.... Skyes was the man.

RIP to the LEGEND.

SexxAtraxxion · Post by **SexxAtraxxion** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:31 pm

Thank You For the Love (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVKumqBRkI8

Ozzy Stradlin · Post by **Ozzy Stradlin** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:35 pm

He was a phenomenal guitarist.

I’m really sorry to see this.

Black Stuff · Post by **Black Stuff** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:11 pm

Fkk. Phenomenal talent. RIP,brother

aznsquirt · Post by **aznsquirt** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:12 pm

Ol' Dirty Bastard wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:08 pm Guy nobody knows dies, who fucking cares?

Is this dude serious

dmbrocker · Post by **dmbrocker** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:14 pm

Sykes definitely wasn’t in my 2025 death pool, and as another mentioned, I never even knew he had cancer. Most likely he kept that cancer battle private the whole time, of course. RIP to one talented guitarist…

DonJuanDeMarco · Post by **DonJuanDeMarco** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:20 pm

Ol' Dirty Bastard wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:08 pm Guy nobody knows dies, who fucking cares?

No way! The 2 Whitesnake albums he played on are regarded as their 2 best and inspired lots of guitar players around the world.

He was very reclusive and did not release that much material. I don’t know much about him. It’s sad when we lose a great one! I already listened to a few Whitesnake songs. RIP!!!

Anthrax442 · Post by **Anthrax442** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:41 pm

Maybe now Eddie Trunk will quit bitching about him not releasing another record.

skinni · Post by **skinni** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:45 pm

Terrible news

Growing up, he was one of my favorite guitarists

JizzySynatra · Post by **JizzySynatra** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 3:03 pm

Incredible guitar player. His solo stuff post Blue Murder was criminally overlooked. Had no idea he was battling cancer. I remember him teasing a solo record years ago with some clips after the Winery Dogs thing didn't pan out.

tooth · Post by **tooth** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 3:09 pm

Ol' Dirty Bastard wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:08 pm Guy nobody knows dies, who fucking cares?

Regarding the world at large, you are correct, not many know him. However, as far as this board is concerned, he's very well known & I would like to think that both the board & the world at large care about his death. Whitesnake's Slide It In was a standard growing up & we also liked those Tygers of Pan Tang records. RIP

RaceFan3 · Post by **RaceFan3** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 3:15 pm

Obviously way more known for Whitesnake and Blue Murder, but his work on Spellbound with Tygers of Pan Tang (one of their best albums), was excellent.

Van Ailin' · Post by **Van Ailin'** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 4:08 pm

I saw Blue Murder live in 1989, and it was one of the most intense hard rock shows I've ever seen. They were truly spectacular, all three main members, and Nik Green was solid filling out the sound. Suspect we'll eventually get a posthumous release with whatever was done from the album that would have had "Gates of Hell." When that release didn't materialize (after being announced), I worried that it might be either his health or that of immediate family.

MickeyG · Post by **MickeyG** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 4:36 pm

Wild Obsession · Post by **Wild Obsession** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 4:43 pm

RIP, awesome guitar player. Whitesnakr, Blue Mutder and his solo album "20th Century" are great.

LillianRoxyFA · Post by **LillianRoxyFA** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:26 pm

I'm sad to hear this. He was one of those guys who was a legend of sorts but left people wanting more output. Would love to know more about why he stepped away from the biz for so long.

I saw Blue Murder in Minneapolis at the old Mirage on the Nothing But Trouble tour. The whole show is on YouTube. He was effortless in his playing and singing. Band was on fire. In my top 10 all-time shows.

Ralph2 · Post by **Ralph2** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:46 pm

I saw him fronting Lizzy in the early 2000's and simply was an insane player.

Sonically, tone wise and just the precision of his playing was monster.

They put out a live record I think called "One Night Only" and its worth a listen.

Thunder and Lightning is one of the greatest hard rock records recorded - Cold Sweat still sounds tough to this day.

RIP

FreddyFender · Post by **FreddyFender** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:54 pm

LillianRoxyFA wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:26 pm I'm sad to hear this. He was one of those guys who was a legend of sorts but left people wanting more output. Would love to know more about why he stepped away from the biz for so long.

I'd wager the reason is that there wasn't any money to be made. He made a boat-load of cash off the 1987 royalties but that was really his only income, so he couldn't just pour money into losing ventures. I'm sure any time he went on tour, he lost a grip of cash.

Sykes was an extreme perfectionist - not the type to cut an album on the cheap and toss it out there. Outside of those Thin Lizzy shows, once the CD era was over he more or less retired.

Ralph2 · Post by **Ralph2** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 7:44 pm

FWIW, he's 4th on Yahoo trending right now trailing inauguration; of course.

So anyone who thinks he wasn't "known" is mistaken.

Its not some dude from say, Diamond Rexx........

pieceofme · Post by **pieceofme** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:41 pm

Ralph2 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 7:44 pm FWIW, he's 4th on Yahoo trending right now trailing inauguration; of course.

So anyone who thinks he wasn't "known" is mistaken.

Its not some dude from say, Diamond Rexx........

Yeah it made the BBC news as well

inextrem · Post by **inextrem** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:44 pm

Zinny wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 1:01 pm Sad news.
I wish he would have released more music.
He made some killer albums with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake & Blue Murder!
RIP.

Add Tygers of Pan Tang to that list

Tommy2Tone84 · Post by **Tommy2Tone84** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:56 pm

I am in shock. I trolled some on here but he was and is one of the greats. RIP

Van Ailin' · Post by **Van Ailin'** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 10:32 pm

One of his best vocals here, from Nuclear Cowboy album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ8R8YDOvOc

And check out the controlled change is speed of vibrato on the guitar solo here, master class in phrasing (solo starts at 2:30):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrVUr-Hk760

MetalSludgeCEO · Post by **MetalSludgeCEO** » Mon Jan 20, 2025 10:40 pm

RIP …
Guitarist John Sykes Dead at 65
#johnsykes #rip #whitesnake #bluemurder #thinlizzy #tygersofpantang #guitar #stillofthenight #metalsludge
https://metalsludge.tv/rip-guitarist-jo ... ead-at-65/

Sad... never met him, but... clearly he had the tools... those WS songs are some of the greatest from the era!

$tEvil

Venus Flytrap · Post by **Venus Flytrap** » Tue Jan 21, 2025 4:04 am

His playing and tone on WS '87 is magnificent. So much so that when you hear Adrian's solo on HIGA you make a face like someone in the room farted.

Always thought what could have been had he been picked to join Lep in '92. Probably would have clashed with them too but maybe not before they made something great.

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