John Sykes dead aged 65: Iconic ex-Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake guitarist dies after battle with cancer

ICONIC rockstar John Sykes has died aged 65.

The Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and Sykes guitarist passed away after a battle with cancer.

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A statement on his social media channels said: “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.”

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Sykes recorded two albums with Tygers of Pan Tang – titled Spellbound and Crazy Nights – in 1981, before co-founding Blue Murder.

He went onto appear on Thin Lizzy’s 1983 Top five album Thunder and Lightning – the last featuring front man Phil Lynott, before joining Whitesnake and contributing to two albums, beginning with 1984’s Slide It In.

He then went on to co-write much of 1987’s eight-times platinum international Top 10 hit Whitesnake.

However, his relationship with lead singer David Coverdale was always difficult.

“John was and is an incredible talent,” Coverdale later said.

“Our musical chemistry was great, but it didn’t work personally. The truth of the matter is no matter how incredible of an album that we made together, we were unable to connect as people.”

Sykes took over as the lead vocalist for Thin Lizzy when the band reunited in 1996, releasing One Night Only in 2000.

And he remained in the line up until 2009.

Speaking about the late Lynott, Sykes told Melodic Rock in 1999: “He wrote damn good songs.

“It’s just a great pleasure to go out and play and think of him. Like a group of old veterans, we tell a few lies and have a few laughs, go and play the tunes and it’s great.”

Sykes went on to release five solo albums, including Bad Boy Live! in 2004.

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