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DARK SECRETS: Thin lizzy - The Real Truth

“I saw Taste on TV when I was 11 – this noise just transfixed me. I decided there and then that I wanted to be Rory Gallagher”: 18 of the greatest Irish guitarists of all time

Rory Gallagher, The Edge, Gary Moore of course, but who makes up the other 15?

Guitar World

"We're scratching our heads and wondering why we just allowed the band to end there." 40 years ago, Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham recorded a brilliant AOR album – and now it's finally being released

The Western Front thought a major label deal was a formality... but instead, their master tapes sat in a garage for decades

Louder

“I’m auditioning for an Irish rock band, so I’m expecting a red-haired white guy. Then this big black guy with a massive afro and an Irish accent says, ‘Hey, I’m Phil!’ I thought, ‘This is gonna be interesting’”: Scott Gorham’s wild ride with Thin Lizzy

“We were that kind of band that didn’t go out looking for trouble but we always got it”

MusicRadar

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“We didn’t think he was up to it. He was perfectly capable of playing the major and minor chords in the right place, but not the lead”: Brian Robertson’s early reservations on Scott Gorham joining Thin Lizzy

Robertson wasn’t filled with confidence when Gorham first joined the band

Guitar World

"If you have a perception of him as an out-of-control rock'n'roller, that's not the guy I worked with." Jeff Wayne needed someone to play an apocalyptic preacher in The War Of The Worlds. In Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, he found the perfect voice

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds was released in June 1978

Louder

"Right now, songwriting and pop music is crap." Metallica's Kirk Hammett hammers the current state of pop and reveals the "fantastic" first gig he ever went to

Safe to say that Kirk is not a big fan of the modern pop music scene

Metal Hammer

“There was no master plan apart from we didn’t want to do the Thin Lizzy/Status Quo blues bendy thing”: Bruce Watson on the birth of Big Country, Stuart Adamson’s legacy and the secret to bagpipe guitar

Bruce Watson shares the guitar story of the Scottish rock stalwarts, the "Itch and Itch" amps so crucial to his tone, and how “Scotland’s answer to Jimi Hendrix” was the heart of Big Country's sound

Guitar World

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My favourite Thin Lizzy song, by James Hetfield, Tony Iommi, Jon Bon Jovi, Suzi Quatro, Joe Elliott, Francis Rossi, Mick Box, Johnny Van Zant and more

Everyone has a favourite Thin Lizzy song, right? So we asked a load of famous folks to pick theirs and tell us why

Louder

"Underwhelming considering the talent involved." Supergroup Wild Horses pull up short on lacklustre debut studio album

Rainbow's Jimmy Bain + Thin Lizzy's Brian Robertson = Mild Horses

Louder

“I wasn’t a fan. The only thing I knew was Ace Of Spades. I knew it was going to be rough... I couldn’t distinguish one track from another”: Why Thin Lizzy’s Brian Robertson knew his stint in Motörhead was doomed

The flying Scotsman replaced Fast Eddie Clarke, and had a formidable rep as Thin Lizzy guitarist, but he soon found Motörhead were not quite his speed

Guitar World

"I said to Phil on the side of the stage: 'What are we going to do? I can't distinguish between the songs!'" Brian Robertson played with Thin Lizzy, Motörhead and Wild Horses: Now he finally reveals all

Brian Robertson lived it live and dangerous in Thin Lizzy, lived it loud in Motörhead, rode his own band Wild Horses, and has an impressive list of credits as both session musician and producer

Louder

"It was an embarrassment, but we were desperate for the cash."How Thin Lizzy saved their career by recording an album of Deep Purple covers

It's late 1972, and Thin Lizzy are about to lose their record contract - then along comes an offer they can't afford to refuse

Louder

Thin Lizzy's legendary 1976 Cleveland show gets first vinyl release

The album pulls together the recordings from the band's May 11, 1976, concert at the Agora.

Axios

"I first met Phil Lynott completely by accident during my first ever acid trip." Original Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell on the birth of the band and his relationship with their "gentle and romantic" frontman

The story behind the 1969 formation of Thin Lizzy

Louder

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Guitar World

“Automatically you go into blues when you do that”: Big Country's golden guitar rule that steered them clear of the blues

The band drew great inspiration from Thin Lizzy’s sonic template, but they made a concerted effort to avoid being labeled as a blues band

Louder

"To us, this was a decent album track, no more. We certainly did not think it could be a single!" Without the support of two American DJs, one of rock's classic singles might never have been released

Had Thin Lizzy's manager not had an ear for a good tune and some American DJs not picked up on it, Phil Lynott & Co. might never have released their signature song

What Hi-Fi?

Now Playing: discover the 6 test room bangers soundtracking our March

The year Marches on...

Metal Hammer

"I think I just played the same song the whole night." Thin Lizzy legend Brian Robertson on his controversial time in Motorhead, and why Lemmy asked him to leave

"I knew it was going to be rough"

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Guitar World

“Scott Gorham and Phil Lynott were taken aback that I wouldn’t party with them. I stayed in my room at the hotel. I got to the studio on time. I was trying to make a point”: Brian Robertson knows what Thin Lizzy lost when he left

Half of the classic-era twin guitar attack discusses how the iconic sound was built, his relationships with his bandmates after he left, his forensic approach to modding Kirk Hammett Les Pauls to look like Peter Green’s Greeny, and why he couldn’t play the real thing

Louder

“They say time heals all wounds, but not completely. Even 40 years later, I often find myself thinking about him”: The electrifying life and dark times of iconic Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, by one of the people who knew him best

Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham looks remembers his late bandmate Phil Lynott

What Hi-Fi?

I’ll be listening to two iconic Thin Lizzy albums to celebrate their 50th birthday – you should too

1976 was a great year for Ireland’s best rock band

Guitar World

“I took Gem Archer’s job when he joined Oasis. Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy came in on Saturdays and we’d just play”: How a job in the “party guitar shop” gave Pretenders guitarist James Walbourne his start in the industry

Walbourne reminisces about the guitar store that started it all – and why music shops and venues are crucial for up-and-coming musicians

Guitar World

“He had definite ideas about how he wanted to do certain songs. I’m similar, so we clashed”: Brian Robertson sets the record straight on his Thin Lizzy exit

Robertson left Thin Lizzy amid conflict with Phil Lynott and a serious hand injury – but came back as a session hand on future albums and tours

Louder

“The two Johns very began to hate doing TV shows that wanted us to mime. For a band that worshipped Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy and UFO, it became a really big problem”: The huge 80s hard rock hit that drove a wedge between the band that made it

The Final Countdown pushed Europe into the pop charts – and not everyone was happy about it

Louder

"I did my last school exam and played Glastonbury two days later. Two weeks after that we went into the chart at number 11": The story of the joyous breakthrough hit inspired by Thin Lizzy, Star Wars and Dutch cigars

From school to hellraising in short order – all enabled by a story of a whirlwind intergalactic romance

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