John Sykes net worth: Fortune explored as legendary guitarist of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy fame dies at 65

Well-known guitarist and Whitesnake member John Sykes, 65, unexpectedly passed away on Monday, January 20. The news of John's demise was revealed through his official Facebook page on the same day. The post included a photo where Sykes was spotted holding a guitar in his hand and kissing it.

The caption revealed that John was struggling with cancer for a long time, which eventually led to his death. The statement also mentioned:

"He will be remembered by many as a man with exceptional musical talent but for those who didn't know him personally, he was a thoughtful, kind, and charismatic man whose presence lit up the room."

John Sykes worked with many bands throughout his career and these additionally contributed to his wealth. He boasted a net worth of $10 million before his death, as per Celebrity Net Worth.

Meanwhile, the post on his Facebook account also reads:

"He certainly matched to the beat of his own drum and always pulled for the underdog. In his final days, he spoke of his sincere love and gratitude for his fans who stuck by him through all these years. While the impact of his loss is profound and the mood somber, we hope the light of his memory will extinguish the shadow of his absence."

Many other popular personalities expressed their grief on various platforms, with most of them recalling his work as a musician and the influence that he left on everyone else around the world.

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John Sykes' music career was his main source of income

The Reading, Berkshire native became a popular face after he worked with various bands. He developed an interest in playing guitar at a very young age and trained himself in the same. As per John's self-titled official website, the first band that he joined was The Tygers of Pan Tang, and had an opportunity to contribute his skills to two of their albums.

In 1982, John Sykes became a part of another group, Thin Lizzy. In between playing with the band, he also accompanied Phil Lynott on the tour of a group called The Three Musketeers. In an interview with Metal Express Radio in 2008, John recalled the time he worked with Lynott by saying:

"When I joined Lizzy I spent a lot of time with Phil, he was one of my heroes and I loved the guy and spent time working with him in the studio and got his phrasing sussed… so I think it's close to his style, but obviously it's not Phil and it could never be that, but it's probably as close as you're going to get."

Apart from playing for different bands, John Sykes also pursued a solo career, where he released five albums, including Out of My Tree, Loveland, 20th Century, Nuclear Cowboy, and Bad Boy Live!

He then came to Whitesnake in 1984 after being spotted by David Coverdale. John Sykes' website stated that he initially rejected the offer to join the band since he wanted to play only for Philip Lynott and Thin Lizzy. When he later came to the group and started playing with them, he rose to popularity.

John Sykes has two albums in his credits with Whitesnake, with the first being Slide It In, which was the band's sixth album. The project received a positive response and also grabbed a spot on the US Billboard 200 alongside other charts.

After playing with Whitesnake for many years, John established a band of his own, named Blue Murder. The group was active between 1987 and 1994 and they worked with Geffen Records, delivering two albums.

However, their self-titled debut album failed to become a commercial success and the response was the same for their second major project Nothin' But Trouble.