Thin Lizzy I (December
1969-July 1970)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Eric
Bell- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Eric
Wrixon- keyboards
Notes: Thin Lizzy are
formed in December 1969. The band takes their name from The Dandy comic strip
character Tin Lizzie. After recording a song or two, Wrixon leaves the band.
Thin Lizzy II (July
1970-December 1973)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Eric
Bell- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Albums
Thin
Lizzy (1971)
Shades
of a Blue Orphanage (1972)
Vagabonds
of the Western World (1973)
Notes: With Wrixon out,
Thin Lizzy decided to stay as a trio. This line-up records the band’s first
three albums. In 1972, the band are able to crack the charts with their take on
the traditional Irish folk tune “Whiskey in the Jar.” With the success of the
single, the band’s popularity increased. The line up ends after Bell leaves the
band, who is said to have left during a performance. From what’s been written,
Bell thought the band were starting to take a commercial turn.
Between
the release of Shades and Vagabonds, the band are asked by their
management to record a Deep Purple tribute album. The band reluctantly did so
under the name Funky Junction. With the addition of a singer and a keyboardist
from another band called Elmer Fudd, Funky
Junction Play a Tribute to Deep Purple was released in January 1973.
Thin Lizzy III (January-April
1974)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Gary
Moore- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Notes: Filling in for
Bell was guitarist Gary Moore, Phil’s friend from Irish rockers Skid Row. Moore
stays for a few months, during which he records the guitar solo for “Still in
Love With You”- which ends up on the Night
Life album.
Thin Lizzy IV (May
1974)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
John
DuCann- guitar
Andy
Gee- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Note: After Moore
left, Lynott decided the band’s line up should be expanded. The band found two
guitarists- Andy Gee and former Atomic Rooster frontman John DuCann. The band
went on a brief tour in May 1974, after which the guitarists left.
Thin Lizzy V (June
1974-1976)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Brian
Robertson- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Albums
Night
Life (1974)
Fighting
(1975)
Jailbreak
(1976)
Johnny
the Fox (1976)
Notes: Lynott and
Downey try again in finding another two guitarists. The band finds Scottish
born guitarist Brian Robertson first. Next, the band held auditions to find a
second guitarist. Of the many auditioned, American guitarist Scott Gorham is
given the job. Gorham had been in London, seeing if Supertramp were looking for
a new guitarist. At that time, drummer Bob Siebenberg was Gorham’s brother
in-law. When it turned out Supertramp weren’t looking for a guitarist, Gorham
saw an ad for the Thin Lizzy auditions being held. With Gorham and Robertson in
the band, the classic line up was in place.
Brian
Robertson breaks his hand after defending a roadie in 1976. Gary Moore is
brought back into the band for the rest of the 1976-77 tour. When it comes time
for the band to record Bad Reputation,
Robertson was not wanted back in the band.
Thin Lizzy VI
(1976-1977)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Gary
Moore- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Notes: Moore filled in
for Robertson during the 1976-77 tour.
Thin Lizzy VII
(-1977)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Notes: The line-up
during the Bad Reputation recording
sessions.
Thin Lizzy Va
(1977-July 1978)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Brian
Robertson- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Albums
Bad
Reputation (1977)
Live
and Dangerous (1978)
Notes: As the sessions
for Bad Reputation came to an end,
Robertson was invited back. The line-up ended in July 1978 when Robertson left
for good.
Thin Lizzy VIa (August
1978-Late 1978)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Gary
Moore- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Albums
Black
Rose (1979)
Notes: In 1978, Gary
Moore is invited to join Thin Lizzy again. Unlike previous times, Moore is
asked to stay long term. Moore records only one album with the band, 1979’s Black Rose.
Thin Lizzy VIII
(Late 1978)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Gary
Moore- guitar
Mark
Nauseef- drums
Notes: Downey takes a short break from the band, with drummer Mark Nauseef filling in for Downey.
Thin Lizzy VIb (Late 1978-July 1979)
Notes: Downey takes a short break from the band, with drummer Mark Nauseef filling in for Downey.
Thin Lizzy VIb (Late 1978-July 1979)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Gary
Moore- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Notes: During the Black Rose tour, Moore left the band.
Various sources claim different reasons why he left. Whatever the case is,
Moore was no longer in Lizzy by 1979.
Thin Lizzy IX (July-August
1979)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Midge
Ure- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Notes: Lynott asks
friend and musician Midge Ure to take over for Moore. Ure, who proclaims
himself as the worst guitarist Lizzy ever had, decided to join.
Thin Lizzy X (September-December
1979)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Dave
Flett- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Midge
Ure- keyboards
Notes: The Black Rose tour ends with Dave Flett as
the second guitarist. With this, Ure switches over to keyboards.
Thin Lizzy XI
(January-April 1980)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Snowy
White- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Midge
Ure- keyboards
Notes: Former Pink
Floyd backing musician Snowy White is hired as the band’s new guitarist. Ure
stays briefly for the Chinatown sessions
before he resume his solo career.
Thin Lizzy XII (April
1980-August 1982)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Snowy
White- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Albums
Chinatown
(1980)
Renegade
(1981)
Notes: Lynott replaces
Ure with 17 year old keyboardist Darren Wharton. Wharton is not officially
credited as a member of Thin Lizzy for Chinatown
but I’ll include him anyway- although he probably didn’t tour with the band
at first. The line-up ends in 1982 when White leaves the band.
Thin Lizzy XIII
(September 1982-September 1983)
Phil
Lynott- bass/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
John
Sykes- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Albums
Thunder
and Lightning (1983)
Life
Live (1983)
Notes: Former Tyger of
Pan Tang guitarist John Sykes is chosen as White’s replacement. At the same
time, the band’s popularity is declining and the money isn’t coming in. The
band has no choice but to announce their farewell tour- with the release of
their last studio album Thunder and
Lightning. At this point, both Lynott and Gorham were deep into drug
addictions- especially Lynott. By September 1983, the band splits.
Band splits in
1983
In late 1985, it is said that there were meetings and discussion held for a potential Lizzy reunion with Lynott, Gorham, Sykes and Downey. This came to an end due to Lynott’s drug addiction.
Phil Lynott dies
on January 4, 1986
POST LYNOTT
LIZZY
Thin Lizzy (1986-
Self Aid)
Bob
Geldof- vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Gary
Moore- guitar
Bob
Daisley- bass
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Thin Lizzy
(1991- for “Dedication”)
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Brian
Downey- drums
Thin Lizzy
(1993- An Evening w/ the Thin Lizzy Band)
Bobby
Tench- vocals
Brian
Robertson- guitar
Doish
Nagle- guitar
Dough
Brookie- bass
Brian
Downey- drums
Starting
in 1994, a reunited version of Thin Lizzy starts to tour around. At the helm of
this new band is Gorham and Sykes, with Sykes taking on lead vocals. From 1994
to 2009, Gorham and Sykes kept the new band going- even releasing a live album
or two. The band had no intentions of making new studio material, as this
reunited band was a tribute to the original Lynott band.
GORHAM-SYKES ERA
Thin Lizzy
(1994, 1996-98)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Thin Lizzy
(1998-2001)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Tommy
Aldridge- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Thin Lizzy
(2001)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Tommy
Aldridge- drums
Hiatus
(2001-2004)
Thin Lizzy
(2004-2005)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Randy
Gregg- bass
Michael
Lee- drums
Thin Lizzy
(2005-2006)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Marco
Mendoza - bass
Michael
Lee- drums
Thin Lizzy
(2006-2007)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Tommy
Aldridge- drums
Thin Lizzy
(2007-2009)
John
Sykes- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Francesco
DiCosmo- bass
Tommy
Aldridge- drums
John Sykes
leaves- Hiatus (2009-2010)
PRE-BLACK STAR
RIDERS ERA
Thin Lizzy (May
2010-May 2011)
Ricky
Warwick- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Vivian
Campbell- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Thin Lizzy
(May-August 2011)
Ricky
Warwick- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Richard
Fortus- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Thin Lizzy
(August 2011-2012)
Ricky
Warwick- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Damon
Johnson- guitar
Marco
Mendoza- bass
Brian
Downey- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
In 2012, it’s
announced that the band will enter the studio to record a brand new studio
album. During the recording of the album, it began to hit the band that they
were recording a Thin Lizzy album without Phil Lynott. Lynott’s widow had an
issue with this too, asking for the band to not record under the Lizzy name. In
late 2012, the band announces that they will continue as Black Star Riders with
Warwick, Gorham, Johnson, Mendoza and Jimmy DeGrasso.
(see Black Star
Riders)
The band also
announces that it will use the Thin Lizzy name on special occasions. The first
of these special occasions is in 2016, which marked the 40th of
Jailbreak.
Thin Lizzy
(2016)
Ricky
Warwick- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Damon
Johnson- guitar
Tom
Hamilton- bass
Mikkey
Dee- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
Thin Lizzy (2016)
Thin Lizzy (2016)
Ricky
Warwick- guitar/vocals
Scott
Gorham- guitar
Damon
Johnson- guitar
Tom
Hamilton- bass
Scott
Travis- drums
Darren
Wharton- keyboards
RIP
Phil
Lynott- 1986
Gary
Moore- 2011
John
DuCann- 2011
Eric
Wrixon- 2016
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