Biography
Before grunge upended the rock landscape in the early 1990s, numerous ensembles assembled from alumni of earlier classic-rock acts coalesced around a glossy, FM-oriented sound. Among the more commercially viable of these supergroups stood Damn Yankees, whose roster featured Ted Nugent, Tommy Shaw, and Jack Blades, and Bad English, built around Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, and John Waite; several parallel projects, including 21 Guns, enjoyed markedly narrower success. Formed in 1991 under the leadership of ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, the quartet also comprised bassist Leif Johansen, drummer Michael Sturgis, and vocalist Tommy LaVerdi. Gorham’s signature harmonized leads, long associated with his Thin Lizzy tenure, were conspicuously missing, possibly owing to the absence of a second guitarist, while the band instead emulated the polished radio style of Foreigner and Journey. The group’s RCA debut, Salute, arrived in 1992 and generated minimal commercial traction, although it earned limited exposure on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.
Gorham subsequently suspended 21 Guns activities to participate in international tribute concerts honoring the late Phil Lynott. In 1997 he revived the band for the follow-up album Nothing’s Real, which contained a cover of the underrated Lizzy nugget “King’s Vengeance,” originally issued on the 1975 album Fighting and co-written by Gorham. Like its predecessor, the record failed to reach a substantial audience, prompting the group’s permanent dissolution. Gorham then joined a reunited Thin Lizzy, with John Sykes handling the vocal duties formerly held by Lynott, for live dates and the 2000 concert album One Night Only. That same year Z Music reissued Nothing’s Real, appending six previously unreleased bonus tracks. Sturgis later became a regular member of the contemporary prog-rock incarnation of Asia, appearing on multiple releases throughout the 1990s.
Gorham subsequently suspended 21 Guns activities to participate in international tribute concerts honoring the late Phil Lynott. In 1997 he revived the band for the follow-up album Nothing’s Real, which contained a cover of the underrated Lizzy nugget “King’s Vengeance,” originally issued on the 1975 album Fighting and co-written by Gorham. Like its predecessor, the record failed to reach a substantial audience, prompting the group’s permanent dissolution. Gorham then joined a reunited Thin Lizzy, with John Sykes handling the vocal duties formerly held by Lynott, for live dates and the 2000 concert album One Night Only. That same year Z Music reissued Nothing’s Real, appending six previously unreleased bonus tracks. Sturgis later became a regular member of the contemporary prog-rock incarnation of Asia, appearing on multiple releases throughout the 1990s.
Albums
