“We’d be compared to bands like Queen, but that was written before I ever heard a Queen record.” Dennis DeYoung reveals the surprising stories behind 10 iconic Styx songs
This piece revisits a 2014 Classic Rock interview with Dennis DeYoung, the former Styx frontman and keyboardist, in which he explains the origins of several of the band's best-known songs, including breakthrough hit "Lady". It offers behind-the-scenes context for fans of the American rock group as DeYoung promoted his 2014 live album celebrating Styx's music, giving insight into the songwriting process behind the band's biggest hits despite his acrimonious departure from the group in 1999.
Styx formed in the early 1970s and struggled commercially for years, releasing several studio albums before "Lady", written entirely by DeYoung, became their first hit, reaching No.6 in the US charts in March 1975. The band's true breakthrough came with 1977's "The Grand Illusion" album and its hit single "Come Sail Away", after which DeYoung, Tommy Shaw and James "JY" Young drove Styx's chart success through the late 1970s and early 1980s. DeYoung recalls that "Lady" was initially rejected by radio for blending a soft ballad opening with a harder rock ending, a style he says later became commonplace, and notes the band was often compared to Queen despite him never having heard Queen's music at the time. The band split following the divisive 1983 album "Kilroy Was Here" and went through further break-ups and reunions before DeYoung's final exit in 1999.
- DeYoung recalls writing Styx's breakthrough hit "Lady" alone in the early 1970s
- Radio initially resisted "Lady" for mixing ballad and rock styles
- Styx broke through with "Come Sail Away" from 1977's The Grand Illusion
New here? Start with this
Styx were an American rock band formed in the early 1970s, known for blending soft rock balladry with harder guitar-driven passages. Dennis DeYoung was the group's singer, keyboardist and one of its main songwriters, and he wrote their first big hit, "Lady", which took two years to catch on before reaching No.6 in the US charts in 1975. The band went on to become one of the best-selling rock acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s, with DeYoung, Tommy Shaw and James "JY" Young as its core songwriting trio.
DeYoung left Styx in 1999 after years of internal tension, following the band's split in the mid-1980s and various subsequent reunions and line-up changes. He has remained a prominent figure in discussions of the band's legacy, often speaking about the making of their catalogue separately from the group he was once part of.
This background comes from a 2014 interview in which DeYoung looked back on the writing of several of Styx's best-known songs, offering his own recollections of how they came together and how the band was perceived at the time.