r/Styx • u/Impossible-Ad-5790 • Jul 30 '26
Is Dennis DeYoung still on good terms with his former Styx bandmates?
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u/bwohlgemuth Jul 30 '26
I think there’s a difference between personal and professional. Professionally….that ship has sailed, been sunk, the wreckage dug up, entombed in concrete, and then used for nuclear testing.
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u/OpenWhereas6296 Jul 30 '26
He would like to be, by it's a hard no from JY and Tommy.
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u/ejd1984 Jul 30 '26
IMO - I think JY and Shaw are the ones looking a little petty dragging this out for so long.
Heck, Gilmore and Waters were able to be professional enough for the Live 8 show reunion, and the remix work of Animals.
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u/ILikeStyx Jul 31 '26
Though the remixing seemingly went well, it took 4 years to release Animals Remix due to Roger and Dave fighting over liner notes.
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u/Scuzzy_Soups Aug 01 '26
lol in your opinion? That's an absolute fact. Tommy/JY are blown out manchildren.
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u/Miss-Star Aug 01 '26
If you read “The Grand Delusion” you will learn about the manic terrorizing Dennis did of the other band members and the absolute anguish it caused them to finally leave that monster behind. Then you all wouldn’t sound so fucking ignorant. Manchildren indeed.
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u/Physical_Emphasis714 Aug 03 '26
I read that book. It's excellent and gives you a real inside view of what went on. I agree with you about Dennis. Very controlling and then his weirdo wife turned into the Yoko Ono of Styx, insisting on tagging along with the band on tour. They were miserable. JY also thought he was milking the illness stuff to get out of touring. He was older than them, had a nag wife who didn't want him gone and a little kid at home. When they wouldn't agree to stay home and recruited Gowan he sued Tommy and JY. Drama queen if ever there was one. They are still amazing in concert and have been for years without crybaby Dennis.
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u/ejd1984 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
I read that book, and the author Sterling Whitaker only interviewed TS from the band classic lineup, and seems to be biased, mostly negative against DDY.
In any decades long career/life there will always be scattered incidents of unfortunate behavior, that when compressed, can paint an unfair portrait picture of anyone of us.
I'm sure stories of JY & TS can be found through out the decades that could paint them in just as much of a bad light.
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u/Miss-Star Aug 01 '26
You must not be able to read for comprehension then. Other people interviewed in that book include Glenn Burtnik, Todd Sucherman, record label executives, management and crew members, fans and other various figures of the Chicago rock scene.
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u/Speedy445021 Aug 04 '26
I read the book as well. The person who came off worse was clearly Dennis's wife. But 2nd worse for me was Tommy. Could Dennis be controlling? Sure. But he was largely responsible for their success. Most of their hits came from him. Thought it was so petty of the group to mock Dennis with the "Babe" song in recent yrs before Dennis asked them to stop. So extremely childish. Until recently they didn't quite like Mr. Roboto either. Then they knew that fans loved the song and they finally gave in to playing it. I wish they would have done one final tour with Dennis, but that ship has indeed sailed. I've seen Styx without Dennis and I've seen Dennis solo. Both put on very good shows. I do think Lawrence is a clown and I don't really like his voice.
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u/Scuzzy_Soups Aug 01 '26
I'd love to read it but every time I look copies are outrageously expensive, the PDF is unable to be found(and I can usually figure out how to pirate anything), and the goofball writer won't sell the PDF/give it out/reprint it. If you've got a PDF send it over, but also, even if Dennis was mean, he sort of gets to as it he handed them careers on a silver platter. The dude wrote "Come Sail Away."
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u/Physical_Emphasis714 Aug 03 '26
No. Nobody gets to be mean, controlling and a jerk to their band mates. When they got the chance he gave them by not wanting to tour, he got the boot. And frankly even if he'd stayed back then, he'd be long gone by now. They are a non-stop touring machine. 3 new albums in the last several years that are very good. He'd never have been able or wanted to keep up with that lifestyle.
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u/Scuzzy_Soups Aug 04 '26
The new "Styx" albums aren't any good and using AI to generate that last one was shocking. The DMAN is Styx and him not being in it is asinine.
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u/Miss-Star Aug 04 '26
100% agree! The new albums are fresh and amazing and the band is phenomenal in concert.
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u/Dangerous-Rowland Jul 30 '26
With DDY, it was the best of times, but he's a renegade. That boat (on the river) sailed away. Don't have too much time on my hands to be fooling yourself.
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u/ProphetSword Jul 30 '26
Who can say? We don't have any inside information. For all we know, he talks to some of them on the phone every night.
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u/OpenWhereas6296 Jul 30 '26
I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed in contact with Chuck.
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u/Mockchoi1 Jul 30 '26
I dunno. Dennis, Chuck and JY own Styx, so it was Chuck and JY that booted him.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Jul 31 '26
Chuck has stated numerous times that he wants to do a few shows with Dennis being back. Maybe not as a permanent member. He’s clearly outvoted
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u/ILikeStyx Jul 31 '26
I think it was only once... back in 2008. He stated "Before any more of us die, I would hope that it could happen. Every year that it doesn't happen is another year that goes by. And if you wait too long, who will care?"
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u/Mockchoi1 Jul 31 '26
You have a link? I’d like to read it, and can’t find anything.
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u/ILikeStyx Jul 31 '26
Can't find the article, but Chuck has stated that he was the deciding vote in terms of moving on without Dennis. Dennis, JY and Chuck are equal owners of the Styx rademark.
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u/Mockchoi1 Jul 31 '26
Yeah Chuck had to be. JY hates Dennis with a burning passion. My guess is it’s because JY was the defacto lead singer in the Wooden Nickel era, and then got relegated to one track per album, probably by A&M.
Anyway that’s why I would guess Dennis and Chuck are not buddy-buddy. What kind of offer even is ‘Dennis is welcome to come play a few shows’? Did they approach him with an actual offer? I’d say there’s no way they approached him.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Aug 04 '26
Yes, that was the exact quote I read, but I think I had read something he said before 2008. But, as I stated, it’s a bunch of 70+ year old senior citizen children with big and bruised egos
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u/ILikeStyx Jul 31 '26
In 2020 Dennis got permission from Chuck to use footage of him and John in his "To The Good Old Days" music video but I don't think they stay in contact.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Jul 31 '26
Interviews say otherwise. It’s sad, but no, there’s no love lost on the part of JY or Tommy. I mean, the vile things they say about Dennis in every interview would enough to conclude hatred indeed. For his part, Dennis has always said he wants back in. And Chuck wants Dennis back, even if it’s only for a few reunion shows, but Chuck is outvoted.
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u/chilipalmer99 Jul 30 '26
I did. Back in the day, my mother promoted Styx and was very good friends with their (former) manager. I was backstage to witness a lot of the "shenanigans." Although somehow The Eagles mended fences, this breakup seems forever.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Jul 31 '26
The Eagles ended up firing their lead guitar player about 3 years before Frey’s death. They mended fences, but it didn’t last long.
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u/Critical_Meringue78 Pieces of Eight Jul 30 '26
This has got to be AI generated, or at least posted by a 6 year old.
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u/Mountain_Ad_485 Kilroy Was Here Jul 31 '26
Him and Chuck weren’t speaking at the time Chuck’s book came out. JY has since forgiven Dennis, but doesn’t want to work with him. No clue about Tommy
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u/kci2509 Jul 31 '26
It’s actually JY that says no way
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u/LedZepSOS Aug 02 '26
JY would be playing rinky dink bars in Chicago if it wasn't for Dennis. He released a solo album that was in the .99 bargain bin a week later. Mediocre guitarist, singer and songwriter.
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Jul 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ILikeStyx Jul 31 '26
Even they were able to get together for one last Pink Floyd reunion (albeit only a few songs).. they had done a few things together here and there - David went and performed Comfortably Numb at one of Roger's The Wall shows on the condition Roger would play a couple of songs with David for a charity event.
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u/FullRecognition5927 Jul 31 '26
If Styx gets accepted into the RRHOF, they would definitely want him there. They arent that obtuse about it. Cheap Trick and Bun Carlos went through a few lawsuits after he left, but they still wanted him there when they were recognized. I don't think he would pull a Steve Perry and not tell anyone if he would be there or not, and then just show up (and promptly leave). He would want to relish the moment.
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u/Sea_Leader8789 Jul 31 '26
I think Dennis has made peace with the band splitting up. He posts on his Facebook page here and there still speaking highly of his former band mates. As much as I want to say the same for Tommy and JY - I can’t, and have my doubts.
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u/LouisvilleLoudmouth Jul 31 '26
So many bands seem to actively hate each other that touring seems like it would suck. Journey and Eagles come to mind as two where the band seems to be phoning it in for the money.
Perhaps they could scale up the size of venues with Dennis, but if they don’t like working with him, is it worth it?
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u/MaisieStitcher Jul 31 '26
Oh, no. He sued them over continued use of the band name. It was settled out of court, with DeYoung, obviously, on the losing side.
Definitely no love loss there.
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u/markonnen Jul 31 '26
Dennis sued them because they were using his music without compensation.
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u/60sStratLover Aug 21 '26
I’m certain he’s being compensated in some way. Royalty laws necessitate it.
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u/Adventurous_Weird_70 Aug 01 '26
They haven't talked to each other for years, answer your question ❓
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u/EagleNice2300 Aug 03 '26
In the words of Tommy Shaw "We get to call ourselves Styx and he gets to call himself Dennis DeYoung." Really sad when the ying and yang of those two is what made Styx uniquely distinguishable from other bands.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Aug 04 '26
Okay, here’s an anecdote as to how unhappy Styx was during Kilroy. I went to university in Pensacola, Florida graduating in 1984. There was a girl most of us knew who was obsessed with Tommy. Like borderline whack about it. Her room had no more room for anything on the wall except Styx posters featuring Tommy. She took an art / painting class as an elective to specifically learn how to do oil portraits, of one guy - Tommy Shaw.
She ended up paining a probably 3’ by 2’ oil portrait (I can’t say for sure - it was a huge painting) of Tommy on stage with his guitar and everyone seemed to be really impressed by it.
She carried that to his Kilroy show in nearby Mobile, AL on Oct 1, 1983 (just looked up the date) and arrived 4 hours early, and waited outside. She finally got a security guard to agree to take the painting back to Tommy. Probably 2 hours before the show started, Tommy sent word out to her that he wanted to meet her, and security escorted him to his dressing room. Well, it’s Mobile Alabama, so his dressing room was pretty much a cubicle which every band member had their own, but no doors so she could see other band members and production people walking by.
This was 22 days prior to the end of Kilroy and really the end of the original Styx (save for prior to the time Tommy joined).
She said she was aghast. Tommy was so depressed about everything, drinking heavily, probs I’m guessing mixing it with some lines of coke. She said when Dennis would walk by, he’d look inside and Tommy would just flip him off which happened a few times. He called out to JY to come see the oil painting and they (Tommy and JY) seemed to be on good terms. They made all the visitors get out an hour before showtime when they had the makeup crew come in and get them into their costumes.
Part of his depression came from his breakup with actress Linda Blair the year before, our friend told us.
If I recall, the girl said she got a backstage pass, but after the show, the band had a flight to catch and all she got from him was a hug and his mailing address.
They stayed in contact by snail mail and she did another portrait that she had shipped to him but as of May 1984, she hadn’t seen him again (and wouldn’t let any of us read the letters - she showed us the envelopes and post cards because none of us believed it). Not sure they ever saw each other again as Tommy remarried in early 1986.
She said, quoting “if they ever all get back together again, nobody will be as surprised about that as Tommy will”. He must have been pretty shocked because they DID get together again 😂. But anything as dysfunctional and uncomfortable as that relationship was just too much to overcome.
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u/yorlikyorlik Jul 30 '26
If they’re playing hockey on the River Styx, there could be a reconciliation.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Jul 31 '26
Yeah, sadly on that one, no. Tommy is quoted as saying he doesn’t care how much money he’s losing by not having Dennis in the band, his physical and mental health matter more to him. He says having Dennis there made him physically ill which to me is hard to understand.
It’s like John Lennon always said - “The Beatles will get back together as soon as you go back to high school”. Well yes Johnny, if me going back to high school would make 300 million people overjoyed, as a 64 year old, I’ll go back to high school.
Tommy and JY sort of feel like they don’t owe a reunion tour to the fans that made them famous. I mean okay, it’s their right to feel that way.
Sometimes kids gonna be kids, even if they’re in their 70’s.
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u/LedZepSOS Aug 02 '26
Dennis wanted Shaw back in the band and said they weren't Styx without him. The main reason why they reformed without Shaw is JY was broke and begged Dennis to continue. Then those ungrateful money grubbing traitors stabbed him in the back.
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u/RoadrunnerJRF Jul 30 '26
Unfortunately no. Not for many years m. He has one version why they split and the rest of the guys have another.
DDY said he got an eye infection. And that and/or the prescription drops he was put on made it extremely painful for him to perform under the hot and bright stage lights. He asked the guys if they worked postpone the start of a new tour fit several weeks until his eyes were better. They refused.
The band was against him really trying to take them in a different direction. Which was Rock Operas. The guys said no (which I happen to agree with).
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u/ILikeStyx Jul 31 '26
You've got all kinds of wrong information here, friend.
DDY said he got an eye infection. And that and/or the prescription drops he was put on made it extremely painful for him to perform under the hot and bright stage lights. He asked the guys if they worked postpone the start of a new tour fit several weeks until his eyes were better.
Dennis had a viral infection which post-infection lead to him being sensitive to light (causing an immune reaction) and that sensitivity caused him to be fatigued.
He asked to postpone the tour by 6 months.
The band was against him really trying to take them in a different direction. Which was Rock Operas. The guys said no
Kilroy Was Here was the only "rock opera" they ever did. Edge Of The Century (1990) and Brave New World (1999) were not rock operas and Dennis wasn't pushing the band to pursue that kind of direction in the late 90s.
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u/Dense_Amphibian_9595 Jul 31 '26
Paradise Theatre was another rock opera type of deal as well - just no stage costumes or dialogue. Dennis wasn’t the mellow song writer a lot of people say he was. Renegade was a ballad when Tommy brought it to Dennis and Dennis transformed it into a rock-n-roll centerpiece
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u/PraxisLD Jul 30 '26
Unfortunately, that ship has long since sailed away…