Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy came out of Dublin in 1969 with Phil Lynott out front, a bass-playing singer and songwriter who became the first Black Irishman to make it big in rock. Lynott sang and wrote nearly everything, and Brian Downey sat behind him on drums from the start, with Eric Bell on guitar. It was a mixed crew in every sense, drawn from both sides of the Irish border and both sides of the religious divide while the Troubles raged.

Bell left at the end of 1973, and after a brief stint from Gary Moore, Lynott hit on the idea that made the band: 2 lead guitarists. Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson came in during 1974, and the two guitars singing and soaring together over Downey's muscular swing gave the band its sound. Jailbreak, in 1976, is where it all came together: "The Boys Are Back in Town" swaggers down the street like it owns the place, "Jailbreak" snarls, and "Emerald" and "Cowboy Song" show off Lynott's taste for blues, soul and Irish folk, working-class stories dressed up as hard rock.

Robertson left in 1978, and Moore, Snowy White and John Sykes each took a turn in the guitar slot, with Darren Wharton adding keyboards from 1980. Thunder and Lightning, in 1983, went out swinging with "Cold Sweat", and then it was over. Lynott died in 1986. Later lineups led by Gorham kept the name alive, and the band still reunites for the occasional show.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.