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EXPLAINED: 2 - The Real Truth

“I had 30 days left on my visa or they’re gonna throw me out of the country. I didn’t know they’d already auditioned 24 guitarists”: Scott Gorham recalls his nerve-racking Thin Lizzy audition – and his first impressions of Brian Robertson

Back in 1974, Thin Lizzy were auditioning a second guitarist to accompany their newest recruit: the 18-year-old Les Paul-wielding Brian Robertson

Guitar World

Brian James obituary

Guitarist with the punk band the Damned who wrote many of their songs, including their first single, New Rose

The Guardian - UK

Brian James, founding guitarist of the Damned, dies aged 70

James was the lead songwriter for the trailblazing British punks’ first album Damned Damned Damned and went on to collaborate with artists such as Iggy Pop

The Guardian - UK

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“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

Guitar World

“It was Gary’s idea to bring the Irishness back into Thin Lizzy": Guitar hero Gary Moore made only one album with the band - and it’s a classic

“His style of playing pushed everybody to become better,” said fellow guitarist Scott Gorham

MusicRadar

"To this day I don’t know how Brian Robertson got back to the hotel. He had been missing for a day": Through thick and thin - on the road with Thin Lizzy in 1976

In 1976, Thin Lizzy were touring Jailbreak in the US and breaking big. Then disaster struck. Band manager Chris O’Donnell details the roller-coaster year in which they were cruelly robbed of their American dream

Louder

"We'd get to America, and bang! Something happens. Got to get back on the plane and go home": Scott Gorham on Thin Lizzy's breakthrough, Phil Lynott, and why they always screwed up their US tours

1976 was a pivotal year for Thin Lizzy. Guitarist Scott Gorham, one half of the band’sclassic twin-guitar sound, takes a trip down memory lane

Louder

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“Lemmy and I got on fine most of the time, but we had our moments. Being in Motörhead was crazy 24 hours a day”: ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian ‘Robbo’ Robertson’s wild tales of Phil Lynott, Lemmy, David Bowie and more

Phil Lynott, Lemmy, Rush, Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins – former Thin Lizzy/Motörhead guitarist Brian Robertson crossed paths with them all and has the hangovers to prove it

Louder

“I don’t think we’re a band that will last forever. We could break up any time”: On the road with Thin Lizzy in America in the late 1970s

Thin Lizzy hit their stride between 1977 and 1979 – and journalist Harry Doherty had a front row seat for their American tours

Louder

"He'd cook you a breakfast like your mother, then go out trawling through the markets buying second-hand clothes": A tribute to Phil Lynott, by the guitarists who played alongside him

Phil Lynott's bandmates share their memories of their late, lamented, but inimitable frontman Philip Lynott

Louder

“I had no idea who Thin Lizzy was. I’d never seen a picture of these guys, never heard their music. But I was told they’d had a hit with Whiskey in the Jar…’” Scott Gorham on his Thin Lizzy audition – and the moment The Boys Are Back in Town “exploded”

Brian Robertson might have given Gorham the coldest of welcomes at his audition but the pair soon formed one of rock's most iconic guitar partnerships. Here, Gorham looks back on their chemistry and the Les Pauls behind his Lizzy sound

Guitar World

"I knew we were going nowhere fast and I had to get out": Triumph were on the cusp of superstardom – then they let it all go

By the end of the 70s Triumph were living up to their name. Then came the falling-out, the split, and 20 years of toxicity before they shared a stage again

Louder

“We were on the right track at the start, but drugs and booze made us lose our way”: the explosive story of Wild Horses, the supergroup who had it all and threw it away

Featuring former members of Thin Lizzy and Rainbow, Wild Horses should have been huge – but chemicals, egos and bitterness got in the way

Louder

Bin collectors to go on strike during Edinburgh Fringe

BIN collectors in Edinburgh have voted to strike over the Fringe over a pay dispute.

The National (Scotland)

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Guitar World

“I played note-for-note. Those albums are the soundtrack to people's lives. I wanted to hear them how it was supposed to be”: Damon Johnson on how he came to play with Thin Lizzy and Lynyrd Skynyrd – and his identical approach for both gigs

Johnson has been tasked with filling roles held by a string of iconic guitarists – and he's been determined to do the source material justice every time

Guitar World

“We were playing so loudly, you could see that we were tiring people out”: Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham on the development that changed the amp game forever

Scott Gorham reveals that, before this amp upgrade, he and fellow Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson played so loud that amp mics couldn't take it

Louder

“We came up very fast and we went down fast. We were carried away on that wave of euphoria”: how Motörhead made their two most controversial early 80s albums

The story of Motörhead's divisive Iron Fist and Another Perfect Day albums and the chaos that surrounded them

Metal Hammer

“It’s been a blessing to have been underdogs for so long. It’s kept us hungry. I’m ravenous”: the late ’80s fall and early ’90s rise of Motorhead

Motörhead struggled through the second half of the 1980s - but there was no way that Lemmy was going to give up

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Metal Hammer

"Ballet shoes and Motorhead don't mix": The history of Motorhead in 12 songs

From the song that gave the band its name to their tribute to a fellow music legend, these are the songs that tell the story of Motorhead - the greatest rock'n'roll band to ever live

Guitar World

“Rest in peace, Bobby”: Veteran vocalist and guitarist Bobby Tench – who worked with the likes of Jeff Beck, Peter Green, Humble Pie, Ginger Baker, Van Morrison and many more – dies, aged 79

The British musician played with everyone from Peter Green to Freddie King and Ginger Baker yet never got the limelight he deserved

Guitar World

“I think Metallica thought that I knew who they were. I didn’t. They thought I was in awe of them – not true… it wasn’t enjoyable”: Whiskey in the Jar was the hardest song Thin Lizzy’s Eric Bell ever tackled, and he didn't enjoy playing it with Metallica

In a wide-ranging conversation with GW, Bell also acknowledges that he could never have returned to Phil Lynott’s band after an infamous onstage meltdown in 1973 – but at least he apologized to his beloved Strat for his behavior that night...

Louder

"They're as good as anything anyone's ever written": My 10 favourite Thin Lizzy songs, by Brian Downey

Drummer Brian Downey, who co-founded Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott, picks his 10 favourite Lizzy tracks

The National (Scotland)

Dundee father and son ground staff duo stood down amid club investigation

Dundee have stood down their father and son ground staff duo amid a club investigation.

Metal Hammer

“When Motörhead leaves, there will be a hole there that just can't be filled”: Remembering Lemmy

His name was Lemmy, and he played rock'n'roll

Louder

“Lizzy were a man down…”: Pat Travers on the time he nearly joined Thin Lizzy

In 1976, Thin Lizzy were in urgent need of a guitarist and Canadian guitarist Pat Travers says he was very nearly their man

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