Earlier today, January 20th, it was announced that English guitar legend John Sykes (Tygers Of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder) has passed away at 65 years of age following a battle with cancer. The following message was posted via his official Facebook page:
“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.”
Everyone here at BraveWords offer our condolences to John’s family, friends, and fans. RIP.
Tributes from Sykes’ bandmates, colleagues, and friends are beginning to appear on social media. A sampling follows:
Carmine Appice (Blue Murder, Rod Stewart):
“I’m am saddened about the news of my band mate John Sykes . 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. We lived close to each other when we were in Blue Murder we hung out everyday. He was an amazing guitarist and together with Tony Franklin on bass we had a great rock trio.
He will be missed. [❤️] [❤️] RIP brother John . Check out Blue Murder on MTV in 1989 John played great on this.”
Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, The Winery Dogs):
“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. 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 [🙏] #RIPJohnSykes”
Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, The Dead Daisies):
“Shocked and saddened to hear John Sykes has passed… Such a great player and guy. We became friends 25 years ago. Seems no one knew about this. I guess that’s how he wanted it. But now we don’t get a chance to connect on this planet again. That’s why this whole death thing we all have to accept really isn’t fair. I don’t like this design. No one has a say and you never know when.
John and I had jammed a couple times at his place and talked about playing live but it never formulated. But when he played, his fire was absolutely undeniable.
He will be missed my so name. Condolences to his family… [💔] [💔] [💔] [💔]”
Adrian Vandenberg (Whitesnake, Vandenberg):
“Damn..John Sykes passed away.. a fantastic, very talented and influential player as we all know.. Like many rock lovers I was always hoping he would suddenly blast back on the music scene again with a killer record and start touring again. Musically our paths have crossed a few times but unfortunately we never met in person. Fuck cancer..R.I.P.”
Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands):
“Deeply saddened by John Sykes passing. He was an incredible guitarist and a good man. First time I met him I told him I played Cold Sweat when I soundchecked. He smiled and said he played Bark at the Moon during his. Hanging with him was always fun. Although I hadn’t seen him in decades I had hoped to next time I was in LA since we had mutual friends. I’ll miss him.”
Shane Gaalaas (Michael Schneker Group, Toque):
“John’s riffs were in heavy rotation while learning how to play guitar everyday after school growing up. Tigers, Lizzy, Whitesnake, it played a huge roll in me wanting to do this for a living. Then I was lucky enough to tour with John’s Thin Lizzy back in the 90’s during my time with Micheal Schenker. He was always a gentleman, the coolest cat and shredded every night. Heartbroken to loose another hero [💔]”