10 Greatest Secret Weapons In Rock And Roll
6. John Sykes - Whitesnake
Anyone going into Whitesnake knows that they're getting treated like an employee at the best of times. For as much as the hair metal darlings might have seemed like a unit early on, most of the records were more of an extension for David Coverdale's frontman chops than an actual cohesive band. If there was anything close that Coverdale had to a partner in crime though, it would have to be John Sykes.
Fresh off a brief stint nursing Thin Lizzy back to health in their final days, Sykes joined forces with Coverdale just as things were starting to get going. Having just the right amount of bluesy soul to match his poodle-haired counterpart, Sykes was the one who brought in the structures for songs like Here I Go Again and Still of the Night, which would become the sound of the '80s for a whole new generation. Much like all of Whitesnake though, change was in the air from the get-go.
Just before going to do promotion, Sykes was already out of the band after getting into a row with David over how the writing sessions were going to be going forward. So even though Sykes wrote Here I Go Again, you won't find him in any of the videos for them from the same time. As Sykes moves on as a wayward blues troubadour, Whitesnake is still missing an integral piece of the puzzle these days.