10 Musicians That Walked Away From HUGE Bands
8. Tommy Shaw - Styx
When Styx first got started, things didn't really gel with the record buying public. Even though Dennis DeYoung and James JY Young could play like madmen behind their instruments, it wasn't until Tommy Shaw came along that we got a lot more heart behind albums like The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight. As time wore on, Dennis seemed to take firm control of the band and never looked back.
Capping off every single album with some other grand concept, Shaw started to get incredibly burned out trying to fit his entire writing scheme into one specific story, especially when it involved some monster ballads like Babe in the mix. Before he could say anything though, DeYoung was embarking on the most bug-nutty concept yet, being an entire dystopian story about robots and keeping rock and roll alive.
After Shaw came up empty writing songs about Mr. Roboto, the tour wasn't much better, with the actual stage show turning more into musical theater, which didn't go over well with the blue collar audience that they had. Since he had signed on to be in a rock band, Shaw was done with the stage musical side of the band and quit on the spot, forming the supergroup Damn Yankees not long afterward. And over time it looks like the rest of the band has sided with Shaw, given that the latest incarnation of the band involves every member of the band sans DeYoung.