Tuesday, January 21, 2025

ITP V.025 ONLY ONE PER COFFIN: R.I.P. JOHN SYKES (GUITARIST WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY)

 May be an image of 1 person and guitar

 

 

 JOHN SYKES, former guitarist of  WHITESNAKE and THIN LIZZY passed away to cancer 1/20/2025 at 65. 

 

 

 FROM JOHN SYKES ESTATE: 

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.


FROM CARMINE APPICE: 

 

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.

FROM MIKE PORTNOY: 

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


FROM ADRIAN VANDERBURG: 

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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
FROM SHAWN DROVER: 
 

 

Horrible news to hear that 1 of my all time favorite guitarist’s has passed away from cancer today #RIP #johnsykes you will be greatly missed by me and countless others 

FROM DAVID COVERDALE:

 

 

FROM OPETH: 

 ”Wow, I was completely surprised and shocked to hear about the passing of the great John Sykes. Now, there’s a guitar player that’s almost frame by frame the image that’s conjured up when you think of a ”heavy metal/rock guitarist”. I was never a huge fan of Tygers of Pan Tang, because I never really listened much to them. I have the ”Wild cat” record and some others, but when I think of John Sykes I think of ”1987” by Whitesnake as well as Blue murder. His great project with Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin. The music of Blue murder is sometimes utilized by Opeth when we feel tired and are lacking in energy before a show. We sometimes put on the song ”I’m on fire” by Blue murder, but with Kelly Keeling on vocals. That song is surely bound to wake you up, it’s so over the top! And then of course there’s that Thin Lizzy album he was on. ”Thunder and lightning”. Great record! I saw him live only once. He was fronting a reunited version of Thin Lizzy that felt more intended as a tribute to Phil Lynott perhaps? Either way, it was great to hear these classic tunes even if Phil obviously wasn’t there. I know that Fredrik is a huge fan of Sykes, and even hung out with him a couple of times. That’s another story, and one that’s best told by Fredrik himself. John was a magnificent guitarist in my opinion. And singer/songwriter too! He had a wide vibrato that I suppose is an acquired taste, but I have always loved his great feel and emotional playing. I first heard about him when he appeared in the video for ”Slow an’ easy” by Whitesnake. A new version of the song from the one I was used to, complete with Sykes reimagined guitar overdubs. He made it sound a bit more metal (which I liked) but had the good taste to keep the original (and lovely) guitar solo by Micky Moody. Right? Anyways, I digress somewhat. On behalf of Opeth I want to extend our warmest condolences to Johns family and friends. A great loss indeed!" - Mikael

FROM EDDIE TRUNK: 

 Just found this photo from a post a while back on my IG. Crushed today.. just crushed. Loved this guy as a player and person. Still can’t believe it .. more tomorrow on the radio . Fucking sucks beyond belief 

 

FROM QUEENSRYCHE: 

 

We were shocked and saddened to hear that John Sykes has passed away. Not only was John a formidable guitar player, he was also a great vocalist. Our sincere condolences to his family, friends and his many fans around the world. RIP.

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-R.I.P. 

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