Singer, songwriter and bassist Phil Lynott is best known as the leader of the band "Thin Lizzy", but he is certainly much more than that.
(Photo: Rockandrollgarage.com)
Here are 42 facts about the talented musician:
1. He was born in England on August 20, 1949 but grew up in Dublin, Ireland.
2. In his youth he used to visit the church regularly and even seriously considered becoming a pastor.
3. He loved the "MARVEL" comic books.
4. The name for the band "Thin Lizzy" he based on the character "Tin Lizzie" from the children's comic "The Dandy".
(Photo: Fanart.TV)
5. He was a movie buff. His favorite movie was , Casablanca".
6. Maybe a little hard to believe but he also served as a model.
7. In 1968, when he was only 19 years old he had a son born out of wedlock. The boy Macdaragh Lambe was sent for adoption and only discovered in 2003 that his father was Phil Lynott.
8. Phil Lynott also had a brother and sister whom his mother gave up for adoption. Phil did not know about it either and his mother revealed it in a book she published after his death.
9. Believe it or not Phil Lynott never issued a driver's license.
10. He always used to sit in the front seat next to the driver even in the band's shuttle vehicles and when he took taxis.
11. In 1968 he formed the band "Skid Row" (unrelated to the American band from the '80s), of which Gary Moore was also a member.
12. In 1969 he formed "Thin Lizzy" in Dublin, a band that would inspire many hard rock and heavy metal bands that would follow.
13. Lynott and his friends from "Thin Lizzy" objected to the release of the song "Whiskey in the Jar" as a single, they thought the song did not represent their sound and style very well. The record company insisted and released it as a single that brought the band its first hit.
14. During the recordings of the second album "Thin Lizzy" in 1972 Lynott was a member. for a very short time in a supergroup called "Baby Face" and included Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Paice from "Deep Purple" and Paul Rodgers from the bands "Free" and "Bad Company".
15. He left the supergroup shortly afterward because he did not want to be a small part of a band but to lead a band of his own.
16. Due to the financial difficulties of Lynott and his friends at "Thin Lizzy" at the time, they released in 1973 an album that mostly included covers of "Deep Purple" songs under the name "Funky Junction".
17. On this album the band members received 1,000 Pound but they did not receive any credit on the album cover. Even the picture of the band featured on the cover was of another band. Lynott did not want to sing on this album as he thought (and rightly so) that his voice did not match Ian Gillan's.
18. He adored Jimi Hendrix in part because he too was dark-skinned.
19. On the 10th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death, Lynott, he recorded with the original members of "Thin Lizzy" a song called "Song For Jimi". It was a one-time tribute and the song was released in 1980 as a single.
20. Lynott admired "ZZ Top" He admitted that the song "Leave This Town" from the album "Renegade" was greatly influenced by his admiration for the band.
21. He wrote the album "Johnny the Fox" from 1976 when he had hepatitis. He was hospitalized and had an acoustic guitar and that's how he wrote most of the songs.
22. He wrote the song "Warriors" from the album "Jailbreak" about hard drug addiction, referring to addicts as "warriors". He thought of Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman when he wrote the song.
24. The songs "Cowboy Song" and "Massacre" dealing with American themes he wrote after his band began performing in the US regularly.
25. He played bass and sang on the "So Alone" album by Johny Thunders, guitarist "The New York Dolls" released in 1978.
26. This was not Lynott's only flirtation with the Punk Rock genre, that year he was also part of a side project that included members of the "Sex Pistols" and was called "Greedy Bastards".
27. He was one of the judges in the 1978 Miss World pageant.
28. He participated in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds project and contributed his voice to the album "Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds" which was released in 1978, as Parson Nathaniel.
29. Lynott collaborated with Gary Moore on the album "Back on the Streets". He sang and played bass and guitar and even wrote with Gary Moore some of the songs for the album, in particular, the hit "Parisienne Walkways".
28. In 1982 he collaborated with guitarist John Sykes on the song "Please Don't Leave Me". This collaboration was the trigger for the addition of the talented John Sykes later that year to "Thin Lizzy" as a replacement for the equally talented Snowy White.
30. He returned to collaborate with Gary Moore on his 1985 album "Run for Cover," where he also sang, played bass, and co-wrote some of the songs.
31. Despite the relatively short period in which he was active, Phil released along with "Thin Lizzy" no less than 12 studio albums, the same number of live albums, and 7 EPs.
(Photo: Harry Potts)
32. In parallel with his work with "Thin Lizzy" he released two solo albums in 1980 and 1982. On both albums, he collaborated with other artists including Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Bain, and Midge Ure, while the first album also featured Snowy White and Gary Moore.
33. The song "Yellow Pearl" which he co-wrote with Midge Ure and which was included on the solo album "Solo in Soho" from 1980, served as the opening intro of the weekly TV show "Top Of The Pops" from 1981 to 1986.
34. Lynott helped Midge Ure and Ultravox get a recording contract.
35. After hearing the band's demo tape, Lynott also helped "Boomtown Rats" and Bob Geldof to get a recording contract.
36. Despite the above, the two did not return the favor and did not invite him and his band to participate in the "Live Aid" show, even though they both were among its organizers.
37. Lynott released two poetry books one "Songs for While I'm Away" which was released in 1974 and the other "Philip" which came out in 1977.
38. Phil Lynott died on January 4, 1986, at the age of only 36, as a result of complications caused by increased drug and alcohol use.
39. The list of artists influenced by Phil Lynott's works is long and varied and songs he has written have been covered by artists ranging from Sade through "Pulp" to "Metallica".
40. In 2005 a statue of Lynott was placed on Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland.
41. On August 20, 2021, his 72nd birthday, a monument in his honor was unveiled in the center of his hometown of West Bromwich. The unveiling ceremony of the 2-meter-high statue is broadcast live for the benefit of his fans all over the world.
42. In addition and simultaneously, a documentary called "Phil Lynott: Songs For While I'm Away" was released to theaters that day. It tells the story of Phil Lynott and includes interviews with James Hetfield, Adam Clayton, Midge Ure, and more: