Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, dual lead guitars, and lyrical themes of war, politics, religion, death, and personal relationships.
Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Thin Lizzy initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon, although Wrixon left after a few months. Bell left at the end of 1973 and was briefly replaced by Gary Moore, who himself was replaced in mid-1974 by twin lead guitarists: Scott Gorham, who remained with the band until their break-up in 1983, and Brian Robertson, who remained with the band until 1978 when Moore re-joined. Moore left a second time and was replaced by Snowy White in 1980, who was himself replaced by John Sykes in 1982. The line-up was augmented by keyboardist Darren Wharton in 1980. The singles "Whiskey in the Jar" (1972), "The Boys Are Back in Town" (1976) and "Waiting for an Alibi" (1979) were international hits, and several Thin Lizzy albums reached the top ten in the UK. The band's music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal.
Robert William Gary Moore was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal and jazz fusion.
William Scott Gorham is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after passing an audition in 1974, joining the band at a time when the band's future was in doubt after the departures of original guitarist Eric Bell and his brief replacement Gary Moore. Gorham remained with Thin Lizzy until the band's breakup in 1983. He and guitarist Brian Robertson, both hired at the same time, marked the beginning of the band's most critically successful period, and together developed Thin Lizzy's twin lead guitar style while contributing dual backing vocals as well. Gorham is the band member with the longest membership after founders Brian Downey (drummer) and frontman and bass guitarist, Phil Lynott.
Chinatown is the tenth studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1980. It introduced guitarist Snowy White who would also perform on the next album as well as tour with Thin Lizzy between 1980 and 1982; he replaced Gary Moore as permanent guitarist. White had previously worked with Cliff Richard, Peter Green and Pink Floyd. Chinatown also featured eighteen-year-old Darren Wharton on keyboards, and he joined Thin Lizzy as a permanent member later that year.
One Night Only is a live album by rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 2000. Thin Lizzy had reformed in 1994 for a series of gigs marking ten years since the band split in 1984. Latter-day Lizzy guitarist John Sykes now took the lead vocal while Marco Mendoza was recruited on bass. The venture was popular enough to be repeated but by the time this album came out, original drummer Brian Downey had decided the affair was too disorganised and retired from the group leaving none of the original trio remaining. Keyboardist Darren Wharton also quit around the time of this album's release. The band, led by Sykes and Scott Gorham, subsequently continued performing with various lineups. This album features ex-Ozzy, Whitesnake, and Black Oak Arkansas drummer Tommy Aldridge.
John James Sykes is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums.
Tommy Aldridge is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, Vinnie Moore and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish musician, best known as the former bassist of Whitesnake, the Brian May Band, Black Sabbath, and Gary Moore.
James LoMenzo is an American musician, currently the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. He has previously been a member of White Lion, Black Label Society, Pride & Glory and Slash's Snakepit, and played with David Lee Roth, John Fogerty and Ace Frehley. LoMenzo was the bassist for Megadeth from 2006 to 2010, and rejoined the band as a touring member in August 2021, before becoming a permanent member again in June 2022. Outside of music, LoMenzo appeared as a contestant on the 21st season of the reality television series The Amazing Race.
Ricky Warwick is a Northern Irish musician and the lead singer of the rock bands Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy. He is also the frontman for the Scottish hard rock band The Almighty, with whom he achieved chart success in the UK throughout the 1990s. Warwick has released several solo albums and performed with a variety of other bands and artists, and also fronts his own band, The Fighting Hearts, to showcase his solo material.
Brian Michael Downey is an Irish drummer. He was a founding member of the rock band Thin Lizzy and the only other constant in the band aside from leader Phil Lynott until their disbandment in 1983. Downey also co-wrote several Thin Lizzy songs. Allmusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia has argued that Downey is "certainly one of the most underrated [rock drummers] of his generation".
Marco Mendoza is an American bass guitarist who has worked in diverse genres. He became a professional rock musician in 1989 and debuted on Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward's solo album Along the Way. He has performed on a number of notable releases throughout his career, including Live... in the Still of the Night by Whitesnake, One Night Only by Thin Lizzy and Live in Concert at Lollapalooza by Journey.
Grand Slam are a British rock band originally formed in 1984 by Phil Lynott, after the breakup of his earlier ensemble Thin Lizzy. Grand Slam was active for a year, and Lynott died in 1986, but the band was revived in 2016 by original members Mark Stanway and Laurence Archer.
"Sarah" is a pop song released in 1979 by Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, included on their album, Black Rose: A Rock Legend. The song was written by the band's frontman Phil Lynott and guitarist Gary Moore about Lynott's newborn daughter. The song was also issued as a single, and appeared on several compilation albums including Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy. The song was never performed live by Thin Lizzy, but it was adopted as a live favourite by Lynott's post-Thin Lizzy project, Grand Slam, and featured on Live in Sweden 1983, a recording of Lynott's solo band.
"Cold Sweat" is a song by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, and is the fifth track on their final studio album Thunder and Lightning. It was co-written by guitarist John Sykes and Phil Lynott, and became the biggest single from the album, entering the UK charts at No. 28, and peaking at No. 23 in Ireland.
Anthony "Tiny Bubz" Biuso is an American musician, best known for playing drums in the punk bands T.S.O.L., The Dickies, and Hed PE.
Black Star Riders is a hard rock band formed in December 2012. The band began when members of the 2011–2012 line-up of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose not to release it under the Thin Lizzy name. While Thin Lizzy continues on an occasional basis, Black Star Riders is a full-time band, described as "the next step in the evolution of the Thin Lizzy story". The band's first album, All Hell Breaks Loose, was released on May 21, 2013, and the follow-up album, The Killer Instinct was released on February 20, 2015. The band's third album, Heavy Fire, was released on February 3, 2017, and reached number six on the UK Albums Chart.
