Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell calls Phil Lynott his “rock god”
Vivian Campbell, the legendary Def Leppard guitarist, has called Phil Lynott, the late frontman of Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, his “rock god”. Sadly, the charismatic singer and bassist passed away in 1986 following a long spiral into alcohol and drug addictions.
In a recent appearance on the ‘Rock God’ segment of the BBC’s The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker, Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell picked Lynott as his ultimate rock god. “Phil was an absolute rock star. When Phil walked into the room, everyone noticed, and he held everyone’s attention,” he said.
“It was such an inspiration to me, and to my musician friends,” Vivian continued. “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 perform the Thin Lizzy classic ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ below.
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