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 members, and Lynott and Downey eventually settled on Glaswegian guitarist Brian Robertson who was only 18 years old at the time, and Californian Scott Gorham. The new line-up gelled quickly, dropped most of the old songs when they played live, and secured a new record deal with Phonogram, but the resulting album "Nightlife" was a disappointment for the band due to its soft production and underdeveloped style. Robertson described Ron Nevison's production as "pretty naff" and Gorham said the record was "ridiculously tame". Like the previous three albums, it failed to chart. In early 1975, Thin Lizzy toured the United