Black Star Riders

H

ard rock band Black Star Riders formed in December 2012. The band began when members of the 2011-2012 line-up of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose not to release it under the Thin Lizzy name. While Thin Lizzy continued on an occasional basis, Black Star Riders would become a full-time band, described as "the next step in the evolution of the Thin Lizzy story". The band's first album, All Hell Breaks Loose (2013), and the follow-up album, The Killer Instinct (2015) would showcase the act as the debut releases. The band's third album, Heavy Fire (2017) reached number six on the UK Albums Chart.

Black Star Riders would be fronted by Ricky Warwick, and originally featured lead guitarist Scott Gorham and bass guitarist Marco Mendoza. Mendoza was replaced by Robbie Crane in 2014. Drummer and founding member Jimmy DeGrasso left the band in March 2017, and was replaced a few weeks later by Chad Szeliga. Another founding member, lead guitarist Damon Johnson, left the band at the end of 2018 to be replaced by Christian Martucci. Gorham and Szeliga left the band in September 2021, the latter being replaced by Zak St. John. Gorham was not replaced, leaving the band as a quartet. Martucci left in June 2022, and was replaced in November by Wayward Sons guitarist Sam Wood.

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