Metal Sludge Gossip Board

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.

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

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.

Dude was a legend in my opinion...RIP

Cool tune with Ray Gillen and Tony Franklin:

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

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.

Thank You For the Love (1997)

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

He was a phenomenal guitarist.

I’m really sorry to see this.

Fkk. Phenomenal talent. RIP,brother

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

Is this dude serious

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…

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!!!

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

Terrible news

Growing up, he was one of my favorite guitarists

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.

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

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.

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.

RIP.

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

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.

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

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.

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........

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

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

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

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

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

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.