Guitarist Brian Robertson entered Thin Lizzy at the age of 18, forming a twin-guitar partnership with Scott Gorham that propelled the band toward worldwide rock prominence during the 1970s. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1956, he devoted eight childhood years to classical piano study before taking up the guitar. As he reached his early teens, Robertson performed with various local Glasgow groups, one of them Dream Police, which later became the Average White Band. In June 1974, after a mutual acquaintance who worked as a roadie for the band alerted him to an open guitarist slot, Robertson traveled to London for an audition carrying only his instrument, a pair of drumsticks, and minimal funds in case he needed to pursue drumming work elsewhere. He secured the position immediately. Shortly afterward, Scott Gorham also joined, and the pair cultivated the harmonized dual-lead style that became a signature element of Thin Lizzy’s sound and was later adopted by bands such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard; both players used Gibson Les Pauls to maintain tonal consistency.
Fronted by bassist, singer, and poet Phil Lynott, the Robertson-Gorham lineup eventually ranked as the group’s most popular with fans, though the musicians required two albums—1974’s Nightlife and 1975’s Fighting—to mesh fully. By 1976 the band had refined its approach, achieving a major breakthrough with the hit single “The Boys Are Back in Town” and the gold-certified album Jailbreak. Later that year Thin Lizzy released Johnny the Fox and secured an arena tour supporting Queen across the United States. On the eve of the tour, however, Robertson suffered a bar fight injury when a bottle severed a nerve and artery in one hand, forcing him offstage; Gary Moore stepped in for the Queen dates. Once the tour ended, Robertson returned on a temporary basis to record the 1977 album Bad Reputation, though his image was deliberately excluded from the cover art. He was soon reinstated as a permanent member.
His playing is prominently featured on the 1978 live album Live and Dangerous, notably the extended blues reading of “Still in Love with You” and the guitar duel with Gorham on “Emerald.” Despite the band’s expanding international success, tensions between Robertson and his bandmates led to his definitive departure in mid-1978, with Gary Moore again filling the vacancy. Robertson next formed Wild Horses alongside bassist Jimmy Bain, previously dismissed from Rainbow. The group achieved modest initial success in Britain before disbanding after two releases, 1980’s The First Album and 1981’s Stand Your Ground.
Motörhead, then at a commercial peak, recruited Robertson following Fast Eddie Clarke’s exit. The collaboration produced only one studio album, 1983’s Another Perfect Day; longstanding fans rejected Robertson’s markedly different stage appearance—short hair, headband, and leg warmers—and he departed after the supporting tour. A live recording of this lineup later surfaced as the 1997 album King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Motörhead. Robertson rejoined Thin Lizzy for a single show on the band’s final 1983 tour, captured on the double album Life Live. A proposed reunion of the Live and Dangerous lineup never materialized, and Phil Lynott died in January 1986.
During the 1990s Robertson recorded with Swedish rock band Lotus on the albums Quartet Conspiracy and A Taster for the Big One. In 1995 he issued his debut solo EP, the six-track The Clan. He has also contributed guest performances to Pat Travers’ Making Magic, Roy Sundholm’s The Chinese Method, Frankie Miller’s Dancing in the Rain, and the Graham Parker anthologies Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology 1976-1991 and Ultimate Collection.
