Styx

About Styx

Styx carved out one of the more peculiar paths through 1970s rock, managing to be simultaneously massive and somewhat ridiculous. The Chicago band started in 1972 when the Tradewinds, a local cover band, renamed themselves after the Greek river of the dead. Dennis DeYoung handled vocals and keyboards, James Young played guitar, and the Shaw brothers were there until John left and Tommy stayed on guitar. Chuck Panozzo on bass and his twin brother John on drums rounded things out.

Their first few albums went nowhere in particular. Then "Lady" from their second album became an unexpected hit in 1975, four years after its release, when a Chicago radio DJ wouldn't stop playing it. That single pushed the band into the arena rock conversation, but their real commercial stride started with "The Grand Illusion" in 1977. That album had "Come Sail Away," which somehow made a song that transitions from gentle piano ballad to spaceship rock opera into a radio staple.

"Pieces of Eight" followed in 1978 with "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man," showcasing the band's split personality between DeYoung's theatrical pop inclinations and Young's harder rock preferences. This tension actually worked for them commercially. "Paradise Theater" in 1981 became their biggest album, a concept record about a Chicago theater's decline that served as a metaphor for American decay or something. "The Best of Times" and "Too Much Time on My Hands" were everywhere.

Then came "Kilroy Was Here" in 1983, a rock opera about a future where rock music is banned. It had "Mr. Roboto" with its "domo arigato" hook that has haunted wedding receptions ever since. The album went platinum but the elaborate stage show and DeYoung's vision for where the band should go created fractures that never really healed. Young hated the direction. They limped through one more album before calling it in 1984.

The reunions started in 1990 but the DeYoung versus Young tension remained. They made "Brave New World" in 1996, then DeYoung's health issues led to him missing shows. Tommy Shaw and Young brought in Lawrence Gowan on keyboards for a tour, and that became permanent. DeYoung was out, and he wasn't happy about it. The legal disputes over the name went on for years.

Since 1999, Styx has been Shaw, Young, Gowan, and the Panozzo brothers—though John Panozzo died in 1996 and Chuck retired in 2021 due to health problems. They tour regularly, playing the hits for crowds who want to hear "Come Sail Away" and can tolerate "Mr. Roboto." They've released a few albums with the newer lineup that almost no one talks about. Dennis DeYoung tours separately, also playing the hits. Two versions of essentially the same nostalgia act, divided by old arguments about robot costumes.

Their shows are part concert, part stadium-sized theatrical production. Audiences sing every word to the deep cuts. The energy is reverent rather than loose—these crowds know the albums inside out and came to hear them played properly.

Known for Lady, Renegade, Come Sail Away, The Best of Times, Blue Collar Man

See Styx Live