Scott Gorham

William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy.

Scott Gorham was born in Glendale, California and began his musical career at 13, learning to play the bass guitar, and joining several local teenage bands including The Jesters, Mudd and The Ilford Subway, the latter recording a single, "The 3rd Prophecy" in October 1967.

He switched instruments when a close friend of his, a guitarist in his then-current band, 18-year-old Steve Schrage, died in a motorcycle crash in Glendale in 1968.

Gorham's friend (and bandmate in a number of bands) Bob Siebenberg later recalled, "That incident devastated Scott. He decided the very day that he heard about the accident to take this kid's place, to try to get to where this kid would have eventually gotten to. Scott stunned everybody by dropping the bass, which he was very proficient at, and switching to guitar."

Gorham subsequently joined Redeye in 1969 with Siebenberg, and the two joined Benbecula in 1970 before Siebenberg moved to England in 1971.

In 1973 Siebenberg, by then also Gorham's brother-in-law and drummer with Supertramp, convinced Gorham to join him in England, with hope of playing in the same outfit.

Gorham was unable to find work with his friend, so he started playing with a number of bands in pubs around London, before starting his own band, Fast Buck.

Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after passing an audition in 1974, joining the band at a time when the band's future was in doubt after the departures of original guitarist Eric Bell and his brief replacement Gary Moore.

In 1974 a musician acquaintance, Ruan O'Lochlainn, suggested he attend auditions being held by Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy's primary songwriter, and one of the founders of the band.

Thin Lizzy were at the time in a state of flux and reorganization, and while the drummer and bassist remained, two new guitarists were wanted.

Brian Robertson, at age seventeen, had already been chosen before Gorham auditioned and joined.

The two guitarists shared lead guitar roles, and harmonized with one another, as well as alternately playing rhythm and lead, which led to Thin Lizzy having what was considered a unique sound.

Upon joining Thin Lizzy, Gorham took on a songwriting role as well as that of a guitarist.

"She Knows", the opening track of his first album with the band, Nightlife, began a long songwriting partnership with Lynott.

They co-wrote two songs for Gorham's next album with the band, Fighting, and Gorham contributed one of his own, "Ballad of a Hard Man".

This was to be the only Thin Lizzy song that was credited solely to Gorham.

He also co-wrote "Warriors" and "Emerald" on Jailbreak, Lizzy's breakthrough album.

Gorham's role in the band remained consistent until the recording of 1977's Bad Reputation album, for which Brian Robertson was largely absent.

Gorham played all the lead guitar parts for the majority of the songs, including the hit single "Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)", though he convinced Lynott to bring back Robertson and have him record the solos for the songs "Killer Without a Cause" and "Opium Trail".

When Gary Moore returned to the band, replacing Robertson in 1979 for the album Black Rose: A Rock Legend, Gorham took the new arrival as an impetus to improve his own playing, as he did with all his subsequent guitar partners in the band.

At the same time however, drug use became more prevalent within the band, and Gorham and Lynott both became addicted to heroin.

1980 introduced another co-lead guitarist in Snowy White, culminating in the album Chinatown for which Gorham co-wrote two songs.

His songwriting contributions increased on the band's next effort, as he was credited with co-writing almost half the songs on the 1981 album Renegade.

Gorham remained with Thin Lizzy until the band's breakup in 1983.

He and guitarist Brian Robertson, both hired at the same time, marked the beginning of the band's most critically successful period, and together developed Thin Lizzy's twin lead guitar style while contributing dual backing vocals as well.

Gorham is the band member with the longest membership after founders Brian Downey (drummer) and frontman and bass guitarist, Phil Lynott.

Thin Lizzy split up in 1983 after finishing a tour in support of Thunder and Lightning.

After Thin Lizzy broke up, Gorham joined Phenomena II, where he met Leif Johansen (ex-A-ha and Far Corporation) with whom he formed 21 Guns, releasing three albums.

He has also played with Asia, the Rollins Band, and Supertramp.

Gorham's sister Vicki married Supertramp's drummer Bob Siebenberg.

Gorham was unable to rid himself of the habit until 1985, after the band had split up.

Since 1996, Gorham has continued to perform with Thin Lizzy on guitar and backing vocals, having assembled various lineups after the death of band leader Lynott in 1986.

Gorham reformed Thin Lizzy in 1996 with former band members, playing various tours in tribute to founding singer, songwriter, and bassist Phil Lynott, who died in 1986.

The tour was named the 20/20 tour – 20 dates for 20 years.

In 1997, he played guest guitars on the track "I'm Alive" from Psycho Motel's album, Welcome to the World.

After John Sykes' departure in 2009, Brian Downey, Darren Wharton, and Marco Mendoza rejoined the band.

New to the lineup were Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell and former The Almighty vocalist Ricky Warwick.

After months of pre-production and two weeks of rehearsals in Los Angeles in November 2010, this version of Thin Lizzy started a world tour in January 2011.

In 2012, Gorham co-founded the Thin Lizzy spin-off band Black Star Riders to showcase new material.

He left Black Star Riders in 2021 in order to concentrate on Thin Lizzy.