John Sykes’ status as a true, unsung guitar hero revealed in new feature-length documentary

By Steve Newton

A new feature-length documentary that takes a deep dive into the career of British hard-rock guitarist John Sykes premiered today.

John Sykes: His Words, His Music, directed by New Jersey-raised, Munich-based filmmaker Damian Kolodiy, covers the music Sykes made as a member of NWOBM (New Wave of British Metal) group Tygers of Pan Tang in the early ’80s, through to his work with Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, and the power trio he formed in 1987 after being unfairly dismissed by Whitesnake leader David Coverdale, Blue Murder.

Sykes died from cancer in December of 2024 at the age of 65, and the underlying message in His Words, His Music seems to be that, despite all his accomplishments, Sykes passed away without gaining the legendary axeman status he deserved, the type accorded to the likes of an Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads.

Kolodiy–whose previous credits include a four-part film series on underrated New York City metal band Riot–did a stellar job in collecting live concert footage of Sykes performing with his various groups, and mixing it in with remembrances from former bandmates like drummer Carmine Appice, bassist Tony Franklin, and guitarist Scott Gorham.

Kolodiy also injected insightful commentary from such hard-rock/metal experts as Canada’s Martin Popoff and the U.S.’s Eddie Trunk, and former Geffen Records A&R executive John Kalodner. I’m pleased to report that he also used some of the audio from my own interview with Sykes from May of 1989, when he was promoting the debut Blue Murder LP.

Part 2 of the not-for-profit John Sykes: His Words, His Music is set to premiere on July 12 on the NYCROCKSTV YouTube channel.

To hear the full 14-minute audio of my 1989 interview with John Sykes subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can also eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.