Phil Lynott

b. 20 August 1951, Dublin, Eire, d. 4 January 1986. Having enjoyed considerable success in Thin Lizzy, Lynott recorded solo in 1980, the same year that he married Caroline Crowther, daughter of the television celebrity Leslie Crowther. Lynott's first single Dear Miss Lonely Hearts reached number 32 in the UK charts and was followed by the album SOLO IN SOHO. A tribute to Elvis Presley, King's Call also reached number 35. Lynott had to wait until 1982 for his next hit Yellow Peril, which reached the UK Top 20 after being used as a theme tune for the television show TOP OF THE POPS. In the summer of 1983, Thin Lizzy split up and it was expected that Lynott would achieve solo fame. A new group Grand Slam failed to develop and Lynott's subsequent solo single Nineteen did not sell. In 1986, he suffered a drug overdose and, following a week in a coma, died of heart failure, exacerbated by pneumonia.