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Artist
John Sykes
12+ albums
hard rockguitar virtuosoheavy metalrockJohn Sykes
about
John Sykes (born John James Sykes in Reading, Berkshire, on 20 July 29 1959; died December 2024) was a British heavy metal/hard rock guitarist remembered for playing with Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Blue Murder and for his solo work. His most well known playing is on the 1987 Whitesnake self-titled album, also known simply as 1987. For the Whitesnake record John Sykes used two Mesa Boogie Coliseum heads and his favorite Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar. Sykes fell victim to Whitesnake's revolving door; he was fired near the end of the 1987 recording sessions, but managed to record all his parts, save for the solo on "Here I Go Again" which was added later by Adrian Vandenberg. This was Whitesnake's most successful recording, selling over 20 million copies worldwide. Songs like "Still of the Night", "Is This Love", "Give Me All Your Love", and particularly "Here I Go Again" were all hits, with the album reaching #2 on the Billboard Top 200. Hoping to capitalize upon the success of 1987, Geffen Records signed Sykes to form a new band. After auditioning several vocalists (including Tony Martin and Ray Gillen), Sykes was encouraged to handle vocal duties himself. With fretless bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice, Blue Murder was formed. The band's self-titled debut did moderately well, with "Valley of the Kings" receiving substantial airplay on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, the follow-up Nothing But Trouble received no promotion from Geffen
