Thin Lizzy met while at school in Dublin in the early 1960s. Lynott, born 20 August 1949 in West Bromwich, England to an Irish mother Philomena (1930– ) and Guyanese father Cecil Parris (1925–2010), was brought up in Dublin from the age of three. Downey, born 27 January 1951, is a Dublin native. Lynott joined a local band, The Black Eagles, as vocalist in 1963, and Downey was recruited as their drummer in 1965. In 1967, Lynott was asked to join Skid Row by bass guitarist Brush Shiels, who brought teenage Belfast guitarist Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011)
Thin Lizzy after the experience of fronting his own band Dare, it was not satisfying enough to play keyboards behind Gorham and Sykes. Sykes said that all the previous Thin Lizzy members were welcome to play with Thin Lizzy at any time. In 2004, Thin Lizzy worked together again, with Sykes and Gorham bringing in ex-Angel bassist Randy Gregg, and drummer Michael Lee, who had played with Robert Plant and The Cult among others. They toured in North America in both the winter and then the summer as special guests of Deep Purple. This line-up proved temporary however, with Mendoza returning in