How Phil Lynott inspired Vivian Campbell to escape The Troubles
Due to the gravity of his talent, Northern Irish artist Vivian Campbell has rubbed shoulders with a host of familiar faces. He first rose to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio before finding his feet as the rhythm guitarist of Def Leppard following the death of Steve Clark in 1991.
Throughout his career, the Lisburn native has worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity and more. Elsewhere, his musical efforts have seen him converge with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons in his solo career and, as a part of Def Leppard, play alongside the surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. Remarkably, the latter came only a week after his first show with them.
Since that moment over 30 years ago, Campbell has been a vital part of the Def Leppard operation. According to his bandmates, he secured his position by being himself, musically and personally, and has since established a celebrated oeuvre with them, including nine studio albums.
Considering this arc alongside his many other efforts, there’s no wonder why Campbell is so celebrated as a guitarist. In his career, Campbell has also been asked to discuss those he deems his heroes and has shed light upon how an assortment of figures impacted him in establishing his approach to the fretboard. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the man he considers his rock hero is the late Phil Lynott, frontman and bassist of Thin Lizzy. While he might have come from the other side of the border and grown up during The Troubles, Campbell took a lot from the hard rock legend and his band, whom he would join as a touring guitarist in 2011. Unfortunately, however, Lynott had long since passed away.
Campbell revealed his lifelong love for Phil Lynott when he was the guest on the BBC’s The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker in 2023. During the ‘Rock God’ section, he chose the late Thin Lizzy leader. The guitarist explained: “Phil was an absolute rock star. When Phil walked into the room, everyone noticed, and he held everyone’s attention”.
“It was such an inspiration to me and to my musician friends,” he recalled. “Growing up in Ireland, in Belfast in the ’70s, it wasn’t a fun place. But to witness this band, Thin Lizzy, get this international success, to be on shows like Top Of The Pops, but yet they were the cool band when everyone else was doing disco music”.
“I met Phil Lynott so many times,” Campbell added. “I had a band called Sweet Savage. We were teenagers. We had pretty much a regular gig at a pub in Dublin called McGonagles, and on several occasions Phil got up with us and performed a Lizzy song, which obviously really helped our credibility. It really kind of helped us to look up to this man and to this band and to say it’s possible to move beyond what it is that we see around us in our daily lives and to dream big. So thank you, Phil Lynott.”
Watch Phil Lynott in action below.
