John Sykes, guitarist for Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan Tang and more, has passed away at the age of 65.
News of his death was confirmed on his official Facebook page, which wrote, "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," the post continues. "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.”
Sykes was born in Reading, England on July 29, 1959 and first got his start in music playing guitar with Streetfighter, a hard rock band that was part of the new wave of British heavy metal. While playing in Streetfighter, he unsuccessfully auditioned to join Ozzy Osbourne. He left the band to briefly join Tygers of Pan Tang, with which he played on three albums before leaving in 1982.
That same year he joined a later incarnation of Thin Lizzy, performing on the band's final album, Thunder and Lightning, and helping the steer the legendary Irish rock band towards a heavier sound. Sykes continued to work with frontman Phil Lynott in the band Grand Slam following Thin Lizzy's breakup.
He left Lynott to join David Coverdale in his band Whitesnake, first appearing on U.S.-only mixes of their 1984 album, Slide It In. But Sykes would quickly become a co-songwriter along with Coverdale, including the band's multi-platinum self-titled album, which went on to sell more than eight million copies and spawn a massive hit with "Here I Go Again."
After butting heads with Coverdale, Sykes was dismissed from Whitesnake, he formed Blue Murder, which failed to achieve the success of his previous band. He auditioned to become Def Leppard's new guitarist, and even appeared on their 1992 album, Adrenalize, but the opening went to another former Whitesnake guitarist, Vivian Campbell.
Sykes continued with Blue Murder until 1995, when he released his debut solo album, Out of My Tree. He would release four more solo albums.
He was included on Guitar World's list of the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time."