John Sykes, a hard-rock guitarist and singer who played with Thin Lizzy before joining Whitesnake for its smash 1987 album and later forming Blue Murder, has died of cancer. He was 65. The news was confirmed on Sykes’ Facebook page,

Rock ’n’ roll tributes have flooded in for Irish rock band Thin Lizzy’s legendary guitarist John Sykes after he died from cancer. John, who was 65 and died yesterday, famously described the group’s iconic frontman Phil Lynott, from Dublin, as his “hero”.

The renowned guitarist played with several successful bands from the 1980s including Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang.