Styx
A Chicago rock band that began on the Wooden Nickel label with a ballad called "Lady" and became one of the best-selling American arena acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
- Origin
- Chicago, Illinois
- Years active
- 1972-present
- Genres
- progressive rock, hard rock, arena rock
- Labels
- Wooden Nickel, A&M
- Also known as
- The Tradewinds, TW4
Roseland and Wooden Nickel
The roots of Styx lie in August 1961, when the twins Chuck and John Panozzo started playing with their neighbor Dennis DeYoung, who sang and played the accordion, in the Roseland area of Chicago. They were the Tradewinds, renamed TW4 in 1965 after a nationally known Trade Winds band rose to fame. John Curulewski joined in 1969 and James Young in 1970, which made them a quintet. Sources give different formation years: 1972 on Wikipedia, 1970 on MusicBrainz, and 1962 on DeYoung's own site, which says it began in his basement.
In 1972 they signed to Wooden Nickel Records, a Chicago label distributed by RCA, and chose the name Styx, which DeYoung says was the only one none of them hated. Four Wooden Nickel albums followed: Styx (1972), Styx II and The Serpent Is Rising (both 1973), and Man of Miracles (1974). DeYoung has said he dislikes the early albums, though he calls Styx II his coming out party as a songwriter.
A&M and the big albums
"Lady" went from a local Chicago hit to a national single after a Chicago radio station began playing it nightly, and in 1975 the band moved to A&M, which led Wooden Nickel to sue. Equinox, released on December 1, 1975, was the first A&M record and the last with Curulewski, who left before a December 1975 tour; Tommy Shaw replaced him. Crystal Ball (1976) was the first with Shaw. Four consecutive multi-platinum albums followed: The Grand Illusion (1977), Pieces of Eight (1978), Cornerstone (1979, with "Babe" at number one) and Paradise Theatre (released January 16, 1981, number one on the Billboard 200 and triple platinum).
Kilroy Was Here (1983) brought "Mr. Roboto", a number three single, and a costly stage show. Shaw left after it, and the band stopped, with the live Caught in the Act in 1984. Styx sold more than twenty million records for A&M between 1975 and 1984, with eight US top-ten singles: "Babe" (1), "The Best of Times" (3), "Mr. Roboto" (3), "Show Me the Way" (3), "Lady" (6), "Don't Let It End" (6), "Come Sail Away" (8) and "Too Much Time on My Hands" (9). A Gallup poll in 1980 named them the most popular rock band in the United States.
Reunions and the present
A reunion with Glen Burtnik produced Edge of the Century in 1990, which included "Show Me the Way", until A&M's sale to PolyGram ended the deal in 1992. In 1995 the group came back with Shaw, with Todd Sucherman filling in on drums for John Panozzo; they re-recorded "Lady" as "Lady '95" for a greatest hits collection, because A&M could not secure the rights to the original. John Panozzo died on July 16, 1996. DeYoung left in 1999 and Lawrence Gowan took the keyboards. Later records include Cyclorama (2003), Big Bang Theory (2005, covers), The Mission (2017), Crash of the Crown (2021) and Circling from Above (2025).
Setlist.fm logs 3,690 setlists, with upcoming dates running into 2027, and their most-played songs are "Come Sail Away", "Renegade", "Fooling Yourself" and "Blue Collar Man". Styx were inducted into the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum Hall of Fame on June 5, 2022. Sterling Whitaker's unauthorized biography, The Grand Delusion, appeared in 2006.
Members
- Dennis DeYoung keyboards, vocals (1961-1999)
- James Young guitar, vocals (1970-present)
- John Curulewski guitar, vocals (1969-1975)
- Chuck Panozzo bass (1961-present)
- John Panozzo drums (1961-1996)
- Tommy Shaw guitar, vocals (1975-1984, 1995-present)
- Todd Sucherman drums (1995-present)
- Lawrence Gowan keyboards, vocals (1999-present)
Records
- Styx II 1973 · Wooden Nickel
The second Wooden Nickel album, home of "Lady" and "Father O.S.A.", with Bach on its second side.
- Equinox 1975 · A&M
The first A&M album and John Curulewski's last, with "Lorelei" and "Suite Madame Blue".
Songs
- Lady Styx II · 1973
Dennis DeYoung's first song for his wife, a Wooden Nickel album track that became a 1975 top ten hit and is often called the first power ballad.
- Lorelei Equinox · 1975
A hard-rocking Equinox single, a Canadian top ten, written by DeYoung and Young.
- Suite Madame Blue Equinox · 1975
DeYoung's closing epic on Equinox, written as the United States approached its bicentennial.
- Father O.S.A. Styx II · 1973
A seven-minute DeYoung song on the second side of Styx II, after a Bach fugue played on pipe organ.
Related artists
Kansas, REO Speedwagon
Where to go next
Official
- Dennis DeYoung Letters and tour history.
Reference
- Styx on Wikipedia The fullest timeline and chart facts.
- Paradise Theatre The peak-era album.
Discography and data
- Styx discography Chart peaks and certifications.
Live performance archives
- Ultimate Classic Rock: Most and least played Styx songs A live history, album by album.
- setlist.fm: Styx Every logged show.
Labels
- Wooden Nickel Records The label of the early albums.
Sources
- Styx (band), Wikipedia
- Styx discography, Wikipedia
- Wooden Nickel Records, Wikipedia
- Paradise Theatre (album), Wikipedia
- Styx, MusicBrainz
- Dennis DeYoung, Dennis DeYoung
- Styx song statistics, setlist.fm