Styx

Formed in Chicago, Illinois at the height of prog rock, Styx became one of America's biggest bands of the late 1970s and early '80s, producing some of the era's most memorable soft rock anthems and notching up album sales of over 25 million. Taking their name from the mythological river, the band featured lead vocalist Dennis DeYoung and James Young. Together they first found fame with the US number 6 single “Lady” from the album Styx II in 1973, but it was when Tommy Shaw joined the group in 1976 that things really started to take off. 1977’s The Grand Illusion and 1978’s Pieces of Eight both made it to number 6 before the swooning power ballad “Babe” gave them their first number one single. Led by the huge hit “The Best of Times”, 1981’s Paradise Theater topped the US Album Charts in 1981, but the band split soon after their tenth LP Kilroy Was Here. They reformed in 1989 and again in 1995 with their distinctive brand of AOR still proving popular in the US. 1999 saw the release of their first album in more than a decade with Brave New World. The album failed to make any kind of impact and that commercial disappointment, along with artistic differences and the illness of bassist Chuck Panozzo, led to the band splitting once again. They reformed for a couple of one-off concerts and then in 2003 put out a brand new album Cyclorama, with Glen Burtnik standing in for Panozzo on bass, and Lawrence Gowan replacing Dennis DeYoung on vocals. The album didn't do particularly well and Burtnik left to pursue a solo career, with Ricky Phillips coming in as his replacement. Various solo ventures were had in the 2000s with the band's only other release being an album of covers called Big Bang Theory. They toured with REO Speedwagon in 2009 and with prog rockers Yes in 2011. In 2017, after several years out on tour, Styx announced a brand new studio album entitled The Mission, a concept album about a mission to Mars. They returned in 2021 with Crash of the Crown.