“The Boys Are Back in Town is at least as memorable for its guitar breaks as for its chorus”: Thin Lizzy inspired Metallica, Iron Maiden, and the Cure, practically invented twin lead guitar, and have had 15 guitarists. Here’s your guide to all of them
Thin Lizzy are tough enough for punks, heavy enough for metalheads, poetic enough for romantics – and their catchy riffs and licks have been played by some of the finest guitarists on earth
Everybody loves Thin Lizzy. They’re tough enough for punks, heavy enough for metalheads, poetic enough for romantics, and melodic enough for pop fans.
The Boys Are Back in Town is at least as memorable for its guitar breaks as for its chorus, and Lizzy’s supremely catchy guitar themes have been played by some of the finest guitarists on earth.
After Phil Lynott’s untimely death in 1986, many assumed Thin Lizzy were finished for good. In 1996, however, John Sykes resurrected the band, installing himself as lead vocalist, alongside Darren Wharton (keys), Scott Gorham (guitar), and Brian Downey (drums), all of whom had toured and recorded with Phil Lynott, plus bassist Marco Mendoza.
Since then, the lineup has regularly changed, with only Gorham and Wharton as constants. Opinion remains divided over whether this new band is truly Thin Lizzy, but there is no doubting the depth of guitar talent that has travelled under the Lizzy flag.
Phil Lynott – (1970–1983)
Although he is of course best known as the band’s singer, main songwriter, and bass player, Phil Lynott played a credible amount of guitar in Thin Lizzy. He is credited with playing acoustic guitar on albums from 1971 to 1976, and supplied additional electric guitars on 1972’s Shades of a Blue Orphanage.
He certainly had an ear for the guitar, discovering some of the finest rock musicians of all time to complete his band’s lineup. When Lynott died in 1986, he had been talking about reforming Thin Lizzy and had even booked studio time for the band.
Eric Bell – (1970–1974)
Even if he had done nothing else, Eric Bell’s place in rock history would be assured by his performance on Whiskey in the Jar.
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That seminal twin-guitar harmony directly inspired Iron Maiden and Metallica and set the template for Thin Lizzy’s greatness to come. Bell’s three albums with Thin Lizzy suffer from the fact that the band were still finding their direction, and Lynott still developing his songwriting chops, but Bell still shone.
Check out the excellent slide work on Mama Nature Said, and his blazing solo in The Rocker. His 2016 solo album features Song for Gary, a tribute to his friend and fellow Thin Lizzy alumnus Gary Moore.
Speaking to Guitar World in 2024 about how the Whiskey in the Jar solo came together, Bell recalled, “One night we played in Wales, and while driving home I was sitting in the back seat. I went into this dreamlike state and started thinking about Irish pipes. I said, ‘Right, forget about the guitar. Let’s run with this.’
“I heard Irish pipes in my brain, and the solo started forming in my mind. I’d never thought that way before,” he continued. “Once I’d gotten into the song and the solo was underway, I hit it hard as it was happening. It was just one of those special moments where every note worked. It was very unusual.”
John Du Cann and Andy Gee – (1974)
For a brief period in 1974, Eric Bell was gone, Gary Moore was unavailable, and Thin Lizzy were just the duo of Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. Englishman John Du Cann and German Andy Gee were hastily drafted for touring duties.
Du Cann was best known as guitarist for Atomic Rooster, who achieved a UK top 5 single with Devil’s Answer just before he left the band. Andy Gee had played alongside Peter Green on Pete Barden’s The Answer (1969).
This lineup of Thin Lizzy dissolved without recording any music, but it did make one contribution to Lizzy’s recorded history. Gee and Lynott rewrote the unreleased Eric Bell-era track, Suicide, into a dual guitar arrangement, solidifying the importance of guitar harmonies to Lizzy’s sound. This version of the track was later recorded for the Fighting album, with Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson playing the parts.
Scott Gorham – (1974–1983, 1996–present)
Thin Lizzy’s longest serving member and the spine of the band, Scott Gorham is for many the sound of Thin Lizzy.
With Brian Robertson he formed what many consider the band’s defining guitar partnership, but his co-lead performances with every Lizzy guitarist have been exceptional.
He and Robertson made the Les Paul the only acceptable Thin Lizzy guitar, and refined the harmony guitar sound Eric Bell had pioneered.
Hearing how talented all these guys were, you’d be crazy not to want to get in this thing called Thin Lizzy
Scott Gorham
Gorham formed Black Star Riders in 2012 with the current members of Thin Lizzy as a vehicle for new music, but he left in 2022, preferring to concentrate only on Thin Lizzy. There hasn’t been a Lizzy tour since 2019, but Gorham has been making noises about getting back on the road.
Speaking to Guitar World in 2024 about his audition for the band, Gorham said, “Phil took my number, on this tiny little piece of paper. And I thought, ‘Great, he’s not gonna lose that, is he?’
“I’m thinking, ‘I probably did pretty shitty.’ But that night, Phil gave me a call and said, ‘We’ve all been sitting around listening to the tapes.’ I went, ‘Tapes? What tapes?’ They’d been recording [my audition] the whole time. I had no idea. Probably pretty good that they didn’t say anything.
“Phil said, ‘We all agree that you’re the guy. What do you say?’” Gorham continued. “I couldn’t get the word ‘yes’ out quick enough. Hearing how talented all these guys were, you’d be crazy not to want to get in this thing called Thin Lizzy.”
Brian Robertson – (1974–1978)
The Boys Are Back in Town. Jailbreak. Don’t Believe a Word. Thin Lizzy’s biggest hits – and their most recognizable sound – are the work of Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham. The fat Les Paul-and-Marshall tone, the immaculately executed harmonies, and Robertson’s masterful use of wah all are all Lizzy trademarks.
This was the lineup that released Live and Dangerous, which stands as one of the mightiest double live albums of all time, regardless of how much of it was recorded in a studio. Fans still argue over whether Gary Moore or Brian Robertson’s take on Still in Love With You was the better.
In 1982 Robertson joined Motörhead, recording the studio effort Another Perfect Day and no less than three official live releases in just 18 months with the band. Robertson last appeared on stage alongside former members of Thin Lizzy at the August 2005 tribute show immortalized in the DVD One Night in Dublin: A Tribute to Phil Lynott.
Gary Moore – (1974, 1977, 1978–1979)
Moore’s three stints with Thin Lizzy have an outsize influence on the band’s history.
In 1974, Moore joined the band long enough to demo three tracks. He recorded the spectacular guitar showcase Still in Love With You for the Nightlife album before unceremoniously dumping the band. He returned in 1977 to fill in for an injured Brian Robertson on the band’s US tour. In this period, he recorded overdubs for seven songs from Thin Lizzy’s first two records, which were eventually released as bonus tracks with the remastered albums.
When Moore finally stuck around long enough to make an album, 1979’s Black Rose: A Rock Legend, it turned into one of Lizzy’s finest. His Les Paul-fueled takes on traditional Irish melodies for Róisín Dubh will still give you chills. Moore died suddenly in 2011, aged 58.
Midge Ure – (1977, 1979)
Although best remembered now for Ultravox and for co-writing Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas, Midge Ure had a long association with Thin Lizzy.
In 1977, he and Gary Moore contributed guitar overdubs to four songs from Thin Lizzy’s debut album, later released on The Continuing Saga of the Ageing Orphans. When Moore abandoned ship in 1979, Ure joined for the remaining Black Rose tour dates.
He’s appeared with them occasionally since, including the 1996 Vibe for Philo, a Lynott tribute gig which also featured appearances from Eric Bell, Henry Rollins, and two members of Def Leppard.
Dave Flett – (1979)
With Midge Ure moving to keyboards towards the end of the Black Rose tour, former Manfred Mann guitarist Dave Flett rounded out the lineup.
Snowy White – (1980–1982)
Once Gary Moore departed for the third and final time, Lynott and co recruited Pink Floyd backing guitarist Snowy White, who was rehearsing for The Wall tour.
White recorded two albums with the band, Chinatown (1980) and Renegade (1981). Some of White’s live performances also made the group’s 1983 live album, Life.
Though well-regarded by his bandmates, White felt out of place in the boisterous, hard-partying group.
“Musically, we did some great things, but our mindsets were not aligned,” White explained to Guitar World in 2023. “I was quite surprised at how much time was wasted. I wasn't used to that sort of rock and roll thing where it's, ‘Oh, we don't really care about wasting money and not being on time.’ It certainly took me a while to get used to that, because when I'm booked in the studio at a certain time, I'm there.
“I tried to get used to it, and I did alright. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't for me. I put everything into it that I could, but I didn't fit in socially. I was the only former member not in attendance at Thin Lizzy's famed final concert, which shows how well we got on socially.”
John Sykes – (1982–1983, 1996–2010)
After a tumultuous 1982 in which Scott Gorham took a sabbatical and Snowy White left the band, Lynott sought to get Lizzy back on track. Former Tygers of Pan Tang guitarist John Sykes was the man for the job.
With his crushing tone, screaming harmonics, and violent vibrato, Sykes was a proto-Zakk Wylde. He took the band’s sound closer to metal, and the resultant Thunder and Lightning charted higher than the band's two previous albums.
Post-Lizzy, he recorded Whitesnake’s blockbuster 1987 album and formed Blue Murder. Controversially, Sykes reactivated Thin Lizzy in 1996, ten years after Phil Lynott’s death, and fronted the band until 2010. Sykes died in 2025 following a battle with cancer. He was 65.
Ricky Warwick – (2010-present)
Having cut his teeth and found success in the band the Almighty in the '90s, Ricky Warwick took the late John Sykes' place as the resurrected Lizzy's frontman in 2010.
Though a few guitarists would take their place next to Gorham in the coming year and change (more on that in a second), Warwick has also, then and since, provided steady guitar-work to the band himself.
“Everything they wrote was memorable,“ Warwick said of the band's music in a 2021 interview with Guitar World. “It was all built out of great melodies and standalone parts that were instantly recognisable as hooks, from the vocals to even the drums. There were a lot of cool pushes and pulls, or notes you might not hear initially, but it was all special and all vital.
“And Scott Gorham’s vibrato is second to none. I’ve never heard him bend a note flat or sharp – it’s always spot on. Whenever we’ve had changes with the line-up, I know the vibrato of that player is very important for him – the vibratos need to match up for the dual leads. That’s very high up in his list of priorities.“
Vivian Campbell – (2010–2011)
Campbell joined Thin Lizzy for one tour during a hiatus from his day job in Def Leppard, appearing on the band’s Live in London 22.01.2011 release. A Thin Lizzy superfan since his childhood in Belfast, Campbell had already delivered a note-perfect rendition of the Don’t Believe a Word solo for Leppard’s 2005 covers set, Yeah! He credited his stint in Thin Lizzy with reigniting his passion for guitar.
Richard Fortus – (2011)
With Vivian Campbell returning to his Leppard mothership, Scott Gorham invited Guns n’ Roses axeman Richard Fortus to complete Lizzy’s 2011 tour. Fortus performed with the band at High Voltage festival, which was captured for yet another live release.
After Thin Lizzy, Fortus returned to GnR, managed a stint with hard rock supergroup The Dead Daisies, and somehow shoehorned in a pop session career that has seen him play with Rihanna, among other big names.
Damon Johnson – (2011–present)
An extremely well-travelled guitarist, Johnson first hit the radio with mid-'90s rockers Brother Cane. He subsequently played on a Sammy Hagar solo album, a Faith Hill track, and co-wrote songs for Santana and Stevie Nicks, before eventually finding a home with Alice Cooper’s band from 2004 onwards, until Scott Gorham brought him to Thin Lizzy in 2011.
Feeling that it would be disrespectful to record new music under the Thin Lizzy name without Phil Lynott, Johnson co-founded Black Star Riders, an original band made up of the current members of Thin Lizzy. In recent years, he's also performed with Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“I was incredibly flattered that Scott would even ask,” Johnson told Guitar World in 2024 when asked about his invitation to join the band. “When it happened, Alice Cooper was the first person I called. I talked with him about how much I loved Thin Lizzy, and Alice was super supportive. I showed up the first day beyond prepared, knowing the Gary Moore and Brian Robertson versions.
“After the first couple of rehearsals Scott said, ‘Buddy, you’re playing your ass off and we love it. But don’t feel like you have to play those songs note for note. I want you to be Damon Johnson… I want you to bring your style.”
Jenna writes for Total Guitar and Guitar World, and is the former classic rock columnist for Guitar Techniques. She studied with Guthrie Govan at BIMM, and has taught guitar for 15 years. She's toured in 10 countries and played on a Top 10 album (in Sweden).
- Jackson MaxwellOperations Editor
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