Tommy Shaw
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Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the classic rock band Styx. Later, he played with the supergroup Damn Yankees.
Music Career
Styx - 1970s
Following Styx's move to A&M, guitarist and vocalist John Curulewski suddenly left the band shortly before they were to embark on a nationwide tour, and was replaced by singer and guitarist Tommy Shaw after a frantic search to find a last-minute replacement. The first album with Shaw, "Crystal Ball" (1976), was moderately successful (the band still performs the Shaw-penned title track to this day) and also includes Shaw's "Mademoiselle" and "Shooz". Its followup, "The Grand Illusion" (1977) became the group's breakthrough album, going platinum and spawning a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in Dennis DeYoung's "Come Sail Away", as well as a second radio hit, Shaw's "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)". The album also includes its title track and James Young's "Miss America".
1980s - 1990s
Shaw joined Styx just before some of their most popular albums - though the band was already well established by then. The downfall of Styx in the early 1980s may be attributed to Shaw's disagreements with band leader Dennis DeYoung. While Dennis wrote and sang on 7 out of Styx's 8 top 10 singles, Tommy only wrote and sang one. Whether it was jealously of Dennis's success and his relegation to being "2nd in charge" or because he was looking for a new musical direction, Tommy Shaw decided to leave Styx after the Kilroy Was Here album in 1983.
Unfortunately, Tommy never saw close to the success as a solo artist as he did with Styx. After leaving Styx, Shaw went on to release three solo records: Girls with Guns (1984), What If (1985), and Ambition (1987).
1990s - Present
In the early 1990s Shaw, Ted Nugent, Jack Blades, and Michael Cartellone formed the band Damn Yankees and had moderate success. Their biggest hit, "High Enough", was co-written by Shaw. The band had a strong concert following, however, after a mediocore second album, the band separated. Shaw temporarily returned to Styx in 1995 to re-record the song "Lady" for a greatest hits album. Tommy would later record a fourth solo record in 1998: "7 Deadly Zens". Shaw has also worked with other artists on a "Pink Floyd's The Wall" tribute album. A second collaboration with Night Ranger's Jack Blades is due out in 2006, over ten years after releasing their first collaboration, "My Hallucination".
Tommy and his Fans
Shaw attracts a variety of people to his music from a number of different exploits:
- Tommy Shaw has a fiercely loyal fanbase.
- He still does frequent tours with a revamped version of the band Styx (without DeYoung) and former Damn Yankees bandmates.
- Over the years, Tommy has embraced vegetarianism.
- Tommy has his own official fan site.
- Tommy overcame a severe drug addiction in the early 80s
External links
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