Dublin’s Thin Lizzy came together in ‘70 with singer-songwriter-bassist Phil Lynott Lynott, drummer Brian Downey and guitarist Eric Bell. They recorded their self-titled debut in ‘71 and the follow-up (“Shades Of A Blue Orphanage”) in ‘73 then Bell was gone. A succession of no less than eight guitarists came and went before Thin Lizzy was done. Later, Thin Lizzy added Darren Wharton on keyboards but that was long after their glory days.
Thin Lizzy scored with the raucous “The Boys Are Back In Town” and to a lesser extent “Jailbreak.” Both were on the band’s sixth album “Jailbreak.”
While they kept recording and producing good, if not great, albums into the early ‘80s, the albums peaked far from the top of the Billboard 200 and usually were lodged mid-pack.
Phil Lynott suffered a drug overdose in ‘86 that led to pneumonia and heart failure. His demise came just three years after Thin Lizzy packed it in. Lynott spent the interim writing and publishing two books of poetry and releasing a solo album that came and went with little notice.
In ’96, vocalist/guitarist John Sykes, who had joined Thin Lizzy in its’ waning says, decided to reactivate the group. Though the band was presented as a tribute to Lynott’s life and work, they received criticism for using the Thin Lizzy name, which was closely associated with the late-Lynott.
Sykes left in ’09.
Having worked under the Thin Lizzy banner for a decade-and-a-half, band members announced in ’12 that they were retiring the name to become Black Star Riders.
