Styx Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide

Styx may have started as a simple neighborhood band, but they evolved into something much bigger.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, the group has delivered a bevy of hit songs and platinum albums. They may have been the model of consistency in terms of material, but their lineup has regularly been in flux.

Brothers Chuck and John Ponozzo were there at the beginning, alongside singer Dennis DeYoung. Styx didn’t get its name – or its original quintet lineup – until they signed their first record deal in 1972.

Three years later, the lineup got a creative jolt with the addition of Tommy Shaw. His prodigious talent brought a new element to Styx and helped them to new commercial heights. But Shaw, DeYoung and guitarist James “J.Y.” Young all wanted substantial creative input, so relationships ultimately frayed. Styx went through the longest hiatus of their career from 1984 to 1990.

Reunions in the ‘90s brought further lineup changes. Meanwhile, drummer John Ponozzo battled health problems that ultimately took his life.

Then the most shocking personnel change came in 1999 when DeYoung was dismissed from the group shortly before they were set to embark on another tour. Decades later, the circumstances surrounding his firing continue to remain a sensitive topic.

Those personnel moves – and others – are explored in the following complete guide to Styx lineup changes.