Guitarist John Sykes, 55 years old, former Tyger of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder passed away today. Sykes was struggling with a severe cancer. The announcement was done by his official site.
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.
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.
In 2004, Sykes was nominated to the Guitar World “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Times.” In 2006, Gibson Guitars released a limited edition of John Sykes Signature Les Pauls done from his 1978
Gibson Les Paul Custom.
In 2009, he left a remodeled Thin Lizzy to pursue a solo career. Last year though, in an interview to Brave Words, his former Tygers of Pan Tang‘s bandmate Robb Weir after being questioned if Sykes was a recluse said:
“He is, yeah. Well, I speak to him, he speaks to me, and I’ve tried to get his music out there and help him, and get the last album – which we will never see now – signed to our record company, but to no avail unfortunately. He feels he’s done what he needs to do musically, and he doesn’t need to do anymore. He’s comfortable.”
The information on his official site is that he “resides in Los Angeles and for the last several years John has been writing material and preparing for the release of a new album entitled ‘Sy-Ops’.”
Metal world is sorry for this loss.
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!