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EXPLAINED: 2 - The Real Truth

“The Boys Are Back in Town is at least as memorable for its guitar breaks as for its chorus”: Thin Lizzy inspired Metallica, Iron Maiden, and the Cure, practically invented twin lead guitar, and have had 15 guitarists. Here’s your guide to all of them

Thin Lizzy are tough enough for punks, heavy enough for metalheads, poetic enough for romantics – and their catchy riffs and licks have been played by some of the finest guitarists on earth

Guitar World

“It was Gary’s idea to bring the Irishness back into Thin Lizzy": Guitar hero Gary Moore made only one album with the band - and it’s a classic

“His style of playing pushed everybody to become better,” said fellow guitarist Scott Gorham

MusicRadar

“He and I played some sweet music together. He was a great musician”: Thin Lizzy legend Scott Gorham pays tribute to his former bandmate John Sykes

Sykes also starred for Whitesnake in the '80s

MusicRadar

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Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes dies aged 65 after cancer battle

The musician died after a ‘hard-fought battle with cancer’, a statement said.

The Independent UK

Former Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes dead at 65

The death of John Sykes, whose contributions to Whitesnake spurred them to become one of the biggest-selling bands of the eighties, has been confirmed

Metal Hammer

25 things we’re looking forward to in 2025

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and we're feeling good - and here's 25 reasons why

Louder

The best albums, the biggest shows, and the megastars who rocked our world - only in Classic Rock's Best Of 2024 special edition

Also in this issue: AC/DC, David Gilmour, Foreigner, Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Ghost Bruce Dickinson, Hawkwind, the Black Crowes and more - and three exclusive gifts

Louder

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“Phil and I were both on our knees trying to find this screw”: Scott Gorham's bootleg Les Paul fell apart during his disastrous Thin Lizzy audition, but his struggles inspired a key tweak he now makes to all of his Les Pauls

Gorham wasn't unprepared for his tryout with the future rock legends – he just had a guitar that almost seemed to have a vendetta against him

Guitar World

‘We can’t all retire because someone died’: the new bands honouring the spirit of old ones, from Talk Talk to Thin Lizzy

Unlike tribute acts or bands still going with no original members, the likes of Held By Trees and House of All are leveraging time spent in their former groups to make music that looks forward as well as back

The Guardian - UK

"To this day I don’t know how Brian Robertson got back to the hotel. He had been missing for a day": Through thick and thin - on the road with Thin Lizzy in 1976

In 1976, Thin Lizzy were touring Jailbreak in the US and breaking big. Then disaster struck. Band manager Chris O’Donnell details the roller-coaster year in which they were cruelly robbed of their American dream

Louder

"We'd get to America, and bang! Something happens. Got to get back on the plane and go home": Scott Gorham on Thin Lizzy's breakthrough, Phil Lynott, and why they always screwed up their US tours

1976 was a pivotal year for Thin Lizzy. Guitarist Scott Gorham, one half of the band’sclassic twin-guitar sound, takes a trip down memory lane

Louder

“Lemmy and I got on fine most of the time, but we had our moments. Being in Motörhead was crazy 24 hours a day”: ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian ‘Robbo’ Robertson’s wild tales of Phil Lynott, Lemmy, David Bowie and more

Phil Lynott, Lemmy, Rush, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins – former Thin Lizzy/Motörhead guitarist Brian Robertson crossed paths with them all and has the hangovers to prove it

Louder

“I was sort of hot in those days!”: The guitarist who had the cojones to replace Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy - and the chops to play alongside David Gilmour in Pink Floyd.

Snowy White on filling some very big shoes in 1980

MusicRadar

“The first night I was in London, I met Gary Moore. Scott Gorham said, ‘We’re going down to this pub. It’s a jam night.’ When I saw him play I was knocked out”: Pat Travers on Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore –and what guitarists got wrong about Eddie Van Halen

The Canadian-born virtuoso discusses the rise and fall of the Pat Travers Band, witnessing the U.K. punk revolution and the riotous roots of Snortin’ Whiskey

Guitar World

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Louder

A new animated video for Thin Lizzy's classic Jailbreak has been launched

The Jailbreak video coincides with new mixes of Thin Lizzy's 1976 albums Jailbreak and Johnny The Fox, and a Classic Rock cover story

Louder

All hell breaks loose! Inside Thin Lizzy's first hit album and the campaign to break America - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Motörhead, Jerry Cantrell, Jon Anderson, The Cold Stares, Fleetwood Mac, Terrorvision, Michael Schenker, Idles, The Hot Damn!, Bad Religion, Paul Gilbert and more

Louder

“I don’t think we’re a band that will last forever. We could break up any time”: On the road with Thin Lizzy in America in the late 1970s

Thin Lizzy hit their stride between 1977 and 1979 – and journalist Harry Doherty had a front row seat for their American tours

Louder

"He'd cook you a breakfast like your mother, then go out trawling through the markets buying second-hand clothes": A tribute to Phil Lynott, by the guitarists who played alongside him

Phil Lynott's bandmates share their memories of their late, lamented, but inimitable frontman Philip Lynott

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Guitar World

“I had no idea who Thin Lizzy was. I’d never seen a picture of these guys, never heard their music. But I was told they’d had a hit with Whiskey in the Jar…’” Scott Gorham on his Thin Lizzy audition – and the moment The Boys Are Back in Town “exploded”

Brian Robertson might have given Gorham the coldest of welcomes at his audition but the pair soon formed one of rock's most iconic guitar partnerships. Here, Gorham looks back on their chemistry and the Les Pauls behind his Lizzy sound

Guitar World

“He went straight for that Les Paul. He closes the lid and goes, ‘That’s my guitar now’”: Scott Gorham nearly lost his 'Holy Grail' 1957 Gibson Les Paul to a customs officer just after he bought it – and he had to go to court to get it back

The Thin Lizzy guitarist bought the vintage guitar while in Boston with the band, but ran into a few issues when trying to take it overseas

Guitar World

“I played note-for-note. Those albums are the soundtrack to people's lives. I wanted to hear them how it was supposed to be”: Damon Johnson on how he came to play with Thin Lizzy and Lynyrd Skynyrd – and his identical approach for both gigs

Johnson has been tasked with filling roles held by a string of iconic guitarists – and he's been determined to do the source material justice every time

Louder

"His work can be quite disturbing. God alone knows what's going through his mind when he draws": For years Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham kept his art secret, but all is now revealed

It can only be a matter of time before a band commissions Scott Gorham to produce their album artwork

Guitar World

“We were playing so loudly, you could see that we were tiring people out”: Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on the development that changed the amp game forever

Scott Gorham reveals that, before this amp upgrade, he and fellow Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson played so loud that amp mics couldn't take it

Guitar World

“People always want to go to extremes. And if you go to the edge, you must be prepared to fall off”: Phil Lynott’s 5 best basslines with Thin Lizzy and beyond

Six foot plus of leather and lust, Phil Lynott was the consummate rock bassist. These are his 5 best basslines

Metal Hammer

“I said, Adrian, why aren't you singing in Iron Maiden? Be the singer!” Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham once encouraged Adrian Smith to return to Iron Maiden as the band's frontman

In 1997, Scott Gorham suggested that Adrian Smith should rejoin Iron Maiden in place of Blaze Bayley

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