58 Facts About Phil Lynott

Philip Parris Lynott was an Irish singer, bassist and songwriter.

Phil Lynott's most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and bassist.

Phil Lynott was known for his distinctive pick-based style on the bass and for his imaginative lyrical contributions, including working class tales and numerous characters drawn from personal influences and Celtic culture.

Phil Lynott remained close to his mother, Philomena, throughout his life.

Phil Lynott fronted several bands as a lead vocalist, including Skid Row alongside Gary Moore, before learning the bass guitar and forming Thin Lizzy in 1969.

Towards the end of the 1970s, Phil Lynott embarked upon a solo career and published two books of poetry.

Phil Lynott remains a popular figure in the rock world, and in 2005, a statue in his memory was erected in Dublin.

Phil Lynott was born in Hallam Hospital in West Bromwich, England, and christened at St Edward's Church, Selly Park, Birmingham.

Phil Lynott's mother, Philomena Lynott, was born in Dublin and his father, Cecil Parris, was from Georgetown, British Guiana.

Phil Lynott subsequently had two other children who were placed for adoption.

In 1957, due to accounts of racism and Phil Lynott being mixed race, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents, Frank and Sarah Phil Lynott, in Crumlin, Dublin.

Phil Lynott's mother stayed in Manchester and remained close to her son.

Phil Lynott later took over the management of the Clifton Grange Hotel in Whalley Range with her partner, Dennis Keeley.

Phil Lynott had a happy childhood growing up in Dublin and was a popular character at school.

Phil Lynott joined his first band, the Black Eagles in 1965 as a lead singer, playing popular covers in local clubs around Dublin.

Phil Lynott attended the Christian Brothers School in Crumlin, where he became friends with Brian Downey, who was later persuaded to join the band from the Liffey Beats.

Phil Lynott then left the family home and moved into a flat in Clontarf, where he briefly joined the group Kama Sutra.

Phil Lynott took to smearing boot polish under his eyes on stage to draw attention to himself, which he would continue to do throughout Lizzy's career later on, and regularly performed a mock fight with Shiels onstage to attract the crowd.

Phil Lynott then discovered that the problem was with Lynott's tonsils; he subsequently took a leave of absence from the band.

Still learning the bass, Phil Lynott restricted himself to occasional rhythm guitar alongside singing lead.

Phil Lynott later discovered the saying attributed to Henry Ford, "Any colour you like as long as it's black," which he felt was appropriate for him.

Phil Lynott wanted to be the leader of his own band, not the singer in someone else's.

Phil Lynott did not sing on the album as he felt his voice was not in the same style as Ian Gillan.

Phil Lynott subsequently developed the onstage rapport and stage presence that would become familiar over the remainder of the decade.

However, while touring with Rainbow, Phil Lynott contracted hepatitis and the band had to cancel touring.

Phil Lynott befriended Huey Lewis while Lewis's band, Clover, was supporting them on tour.

Phil Lynott's songs, including "Cowboy Song" and "Massacre", were particularly influenced by the band's US touring.

Phil Lynott had started to use heroin by this stage in his career, and it affected the band's shows in Japan when he was unable to obtain any.

In 1978, Phil Lynott began to work on projects outside of Thin Lizzy.

Phil Lynott was featured in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, singing and speaking the role of Parson Nathaniel on "The Spirit of Man".

Phil Lynott performed sessions for a number of artists, including singing backing vocals with Bob Geldof on Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves' "Blue Wave" EP.

Phil Lynott became friends with Midge Ure of the Rich Kids, who deputised for Thin Lizzy during 1979 shortly after joining Ultravox.

In 1980, though Thin Lizzy were still enjoying considerable success, Phil Lynott launched a solo career with the album, Solo in Soho: this was a Top 30 UK album and yielded two hit singles that year, "Dear Miss Lonelyhearts" and "King's Call".

Phil Lynott's second solo venture, The Philip Lynott Album was a chart flop, despite the presence of the single "Old Town".

In 1983, following the disbanding of Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott recorded a rock'n'roll medley single, "We Are the Boys " with Roy Wood, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan.

Phil Lynott regularly collaborated with former bandmate Moore on tracks including the singles "Parisienne Walkways" and "Out in the Fields".

The band toured The Marquee and other clubs, but suffered from being labelled a poor version of Thin Lizzy owing to the inclusion of two lead guitar players, and split up at the end of the year due to a lack of money and Phil Lynott's increasing addiction to heroin.

Phil Lynott was particularly upset about not being asked to participate in Live Aid, which had been organised by his two friends, Geldof and Ure, the latter of whom had briefly stood in as a guitarist for Thin Lizzy.

In 1984, Phil Lynott appeared as team captain on the 1980s BBC quiz show Pop Quiz, hosted by Mike Read.

Phil Lynott recorded some material with Archer, Lewis, and members of the News in 1985, which was not released.

On 14 February 1980, Phil Lynott married Caroline Crowther, a daughter of British comedian Leslie Crowther.

Phil Lynott met her when she was working for Tony Brainsby in the late 1970s.

Lynott had a son, born in 1968, who had been put up for adoption; in 2003 Macdaragh Lambe learned that Lynott was his biological father, and this was confirmed by Philomena Lynott in a newspaper interview in July 2010.

Phil Lynott was good friends with United and Northern Ireland footballer George Best, and the pair regularly socialised at the Clifton Grange Hotel.

Phil Lynott was discovered by his mother, who was not aware of his addiction to heroin.

Phil Lynott contacted his wife, Caroline, who knew about it and immediately identified the problem as serious.

Phil Lynott died of pneumonia and heart failure due to septicaemia on 4 January 1986 at the age of 36.

Phil Lynott was buried in St Fintan's Cemetery in Sutton, Dublin.

In 2012, the members of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose to do so under the name of Black Star Riders as they and Phil Lynott's widow felt uncomfortable about new Thin Lizzy recordings without Phil Lynott.

On 4 January 1994, a trust in Phil Lynott's name was formed by his family and friends to provide scholarships for new musicians, and to make donations to charities and organisations in his memory.

In September 2012, she, Scott Gorham and Phil Lynott's widow objected to Mitt Romney's use of "The Boys Are Back in Town" during his election campaign.

Phil Lynott purchased a Fender Jazz Bass from Brush Shiels when starting Thin Lizzy.

Phil Lynott used other basses early in the band's career, including a bi-amped Rickenbacker.

Phil Lynott's signature instrument was a black Fender Precision Bass, furnished with a mirror pickguard and used frequently on stage and in videos.

When playing bass, Phil Lynott always used an attacking style with a pick, favoring eighth notes or triplets.

Phil Lynott wrote the majority of Thin Lizzy's lyrics, often refining the words up until the last minute, when vocals were ready to be recorded.

Phil Lynott began to include American themes into his lyrics, such as "Cowboy Song" and "Massacre", after Thin Lizzy began regularly touring the US.

Several songs feature the character "Johnny", which Phil Lynott used as an alter ego for himself.