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Phil Lynott (August 20, 1949 – January 4, 1986) was an Irish
singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, who first came to prominence
as the frontman of Thin Lizzy.
He was brought up in Moss Side, Manchester before moving to Crumlin,
Dublin, whilst he was still quite young, to live with his grandmother,
Sarah. His parents reportedly kept in touch for a number of years
after his birth, but Lynott did not meet his father until the late
1970s.
In the mid-1960s, Lynott began singing in his first band, the Black
Eagles. It was around this time that he befriended Brian Downey. He
formed Thin Lizzy around 1969 in Dublin after a short stint in Brush
Shiels' Skid Row with Gary Moore. Lynott was the main songwriter for
Thin Lizzy, as well as the lead singer and bassist. Lynott was half
black, and was inspired by Jimi Hendrix as an example of how a black
man could be successful fronting a hard rock band. Their first top
ten hit was in 1973 with the traditional Irish song "Whiskey
in the Jar".
Lynott's last years were dogged by drug and alcohol dependency,
and on the night of December 25, 1985, he was rushed to hospital
suffering from a heroin overdose. He died of heart failure and pneumonia
on January 4, 1986 at the age of 36.
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