Phil Lynott was Ireland's first real rock star. He was born on August 20, 1949, the son of a working-class Irish Catholic mother and a black South American father.
At the end of 1969, Phil Lynott and his friend Brian Downey were approached by guitarist Eric Bell about the possibility of forming a new band. It was Downey that Bell was really interested in, but Phil joined too, with the proviso that he would play the bass and do some of his original songs. By early 1970, they had agreed on a format and a name, and Thin Lizzy was born. When the band announced their name to the Irish press in February, the line-up was Eric Bell (guitar), Brian Downey (drums), Phil Lynott (bass and vocals), and Eric Wrixon (keyboards).
Thin Lizzy was very much Eric's band at the beginning, and Phil just went along as the bass player. Early Thin Lizzy live was supposedly just Eric going through his Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix routines. The band signed with Decca Records, and their first album, "Thin Lizzy", was released in April of 1971. The band's second Decca album, "Shades of a Blue Orphanage", was released in March of 1972.
At this early stage, Thin Lizzy was already developing the brawling, anything-goes style that distinguished them throughout their career. Like most bands that hadn't had the luxury of a hit single, Lizzy's financial status was shaky, to say the least. Yet such was their popularity back in Ireland that they were able to use home tours as a means of keeping afloat.
In January of 1974, Eric Bell left the band. He was replaced by Gary Moore for the remainder of an Irish tour and the English one which followed. By April, though, Moore had had enough. Thin Lizzy was then joined by two new guitarists, 17-year old Brian
"Robbo" Robertson of Glasgow, and a Californian named William Scott Gorham. The band's contract with Decca had run out, and they signed on with Phonogram.
In March of 1975, Thin Lizzy visited the United States for the first time, touring with Bob Seger and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. This tour gave Phil Lynott a first-hand look at the kind of effort and that big-time bands put into their performance. By the time they returned home, Thin Lizzy was an much tighter band.
1976 brought the breakthrough album "Jailbreak". The most obvious improvement was the twin guitar attack, which become a hard rock essential after "Jailbreak". The key track on the album was "The Boys Are Back in Town", arguably Lynott's most famous song. The single was released in April of 1976, and reached number eight on the British charts. It reached the Top Twenty in the United States as well.
Over the next few years, Thin Lizzy became huge. Phil Lynott was now one of the most influential musicians on the planet: adored by fans, admired by contemporaries, accepted by critics, and a natural for the media. It was, however, a time when those who knew Philip best began to sense a change in his personality. In retrospect, it can be blamed partly on the fame that he was enjoying, and partly on the drugs he was taking. Whatever the explanation, the emergence of Philip Lynott the Difficult Artist dates from the summer of 1977 and Thin Lizzy's autumn U.S. tour.
Live sound engineer Peter Eustace,"Philip was OK until he discovered powders, pills, and potions." Everyone knew that Philip was getting heavily involved with drugs.
On Christmas Day, 1985, Philip Lynott was found unconscious in his London house. He was taken to Salisbury Hospital, where he died on January 4th, 1986. The pathologist's report indicated that he had developed multiple internal abcesses and blood poisoning, as a result of which he had suffered kidney, liver, and heart failure.
On January 9th a service was held for Lynott at St. Elizabeth's Church, and on January 11th he was buried from the Howth Parish Church in Ireland. The Gaelic inscription on his stone reads,"Go dtuga Dia suaimhneas da anam" - "May God give peace to his soul".
