Why did Dennis DeYoung leave Styx in 1999?!


Question: "...why did Dennis DeYoung leave Styx in 1999?" (2000)
Umm he was VOTED OUT!!!

(It's kinda a long story but read on lil` sister)

After the succes of Paradise Theater Album...Styx founder DeYoung began pushing for a more theatrical direction, while Shaw and Young favored a harder-edged approach. The band followed DeYoung's lead with their next project, Kilroy Was Here (1983), another, more fully-realized concept album, embracing the rock opera form.

Set in a future where music itself has been outlawed, Dennis DeYoung portrayed Kilroy, an unjustly imprisoned rock star. Representing the "younger" rock generation, Tommy Shaw played Jonathan Chance, who fights for Kilroy's freedom.
The "straw that broke the camel's back"..When Styx tried to play the "Kilroy" show at the Cotton Bowl in Texas, they were booed offstage by irritated fans, who hated the preshow play. After another show in Houston, the band decided to stop the tour. (shaw HATED being Booed..) VH-1 aired a series "Behind the music" you should SEE the way these guys loathe each other..where Deyoung says " If I say we preform Kilroy,, then .. We preform Kilroy. All the ROCKERS were there and Styx got booed.. Shaw has hated THAT moment and Deyoung ever since. Shaw, who was completely embarassed by the end of the "Kilroy" tour, made the decision to quit Styx altogether. DeYoung felt that Styx could not go on without Shaw, so the band announced that they were disbanding. The live album Caught In The Act (1984), recorded mostly in New Orleans during the "Kilroy" tour, would be the last from the band for quite some time. Shaw, DeYoung, and Young all decided to pursue solo careers with varying degrees of success.

1999-2000 ? Styx was prepared to tour in 2000 in support of the "Brave New World" album, but Dennis DeYoung didn't want to commit to a long tour, fearing his illness would stop the tour. Tommy Shaw and James Young defiantly decided to go on tour anyway, with or without Dennis. When Dennis refused to get on the road, Shaw and Young selected Canadian musician Lawrence Gowan to become Styx's new keyboardist. Original bassist Chuck Panozzo also declined to tour, so former Styx guitarist Glen Burtnick was brought in as the new bassist, and Styx hit the road in support of the album.
Immediately, a legal battle ensued over who owned the rights to the name Styx. DeYoung protested his unceremonious ousting from Styx in court against Shaw and Young, but in the end, Shaw and Young were given the rights to the Styx moniker. DeYoung was forced to only use the title "The Music of Styx" when he performed the band's old hits as a solo artist. This left the Styx legacy permanently scarred, with no chance of DeYoung ever returning to Styx again. The bitter breakup was detailed in VH1's Behind The Music special on the band, which aired in 2000.
(I found this also: While Tommy Shaw and James Young's material followed a hard rock vein, Dennis DeYoung's penchant for Broadway styles infuriated his bandmates, and the dramatic differences in styles were evident on Brave New World.) Arguments over which songs to release as singles, the album's artwork, the track sequencing, and the omission of DeYoung's vocals and keyboards from many of the Shaw/JY tracks fueled the fire. The band was further hindered by a viral illness contracted by DeYoung which temporarily made his eyes sensitive to light. DeYoung asked his bandmates to delay touring..(anxiety...being one of the reasons).. Later that year, DeYoung was permanently replaced by Lawrence Gowan, a popular 80s solo artist in his native Canada, though no official statement regarding a firing or replacement had been made. As a result of the replacement, DeYoung filed a lawsuit, charging that the remaining members of the band were using the Styx name without his consent, and he in turn was countersued by Shaw & JY for using the billing of "Dennis DeYoung, the voice of Styx" in his solo concerts. The suit was eventually settled on the grounds that DeYoung could bill himself as "performing the music of Styx" or "formerly of Styx", but not as "the voice of Styx", and Styx continued on with Shaw & JY at the helm.

" .. Queen said it best: "Another one bites the dust"


Answers: "...why did Dennis DeYoung leave Styx in 1999?" (2000)
Umm he was VOTED OUT!!!

(It's kinda a long story but read on lil` sister)

After the succes of Paradise Theater Album...Styx founder DeYoung began pushing for a more theatrical direction, while Shaw and Young favored a harder-edged approach. The band followed DeYoung's lead with their next project, Kilroy Was Here (1983), another, more fully-realized concept album, embracing the rock opera form.

Set in a future where music itself has been outlawed, Dennis DeYoung portrayed Kilroy, an unjustly imprisoned rock star. Representing the "younger" rock generation, Tommy Shaw played Jonathan Chance, who fights for Kilroy's freedom.
The "straw that broke the camel's back"..When Styx tried to play the "Kilroy" show at the Cotton Bowl in Texas, they were booed offstage by irritated fans, who hated the preshow play. After another show in Houston, the band decided to stop the tour. (shaw HATED being Booed..) VH-1 aired a series "Behind the music" you should SEE the way these guys loathe each other..where Deyoung says " If I say we preform Kilroy,, then .. We preform Kilroy. All the ROCKERS were there and Styx got booed.. Shaw has hated THAT moment and Deyoung ever since. Shaw, who was completely embarassed by the end of the "Kilroy" tour, made the decision to quit Styx altogether. DeYoung felt that Styx could not go on without Shaw, so the band announced that they were disbanding. The live album Caught In The Act (1984), recorded mostly in New Orleans during the "Kilroy" tour, would be the last from the band for quite some time. Shaw, DeYoung, and Young all decided to pursue solo careers with varying degrees of success.

1999-2000 ? Styx was prepared to tour in 2000 in support of the "Brave New World" album, but Dennis DeYoung didn't want to commit to a long tour, fearing his illness would stop the tour. Tommy Shaw and James Young defiantly decided to go on tour anyway, with or without Dennis. When Dennis refused to get on the road, Shaw and Young selected Canadian musician Lawrence Gowan to become Styx's new keyboardist. Original bassist Chuck Panozzo also declined to tour, so former Styx guitarist Glen Burtnick was brought in as the new bassist, and Styx hit the road in support of the album.
Immediately, a legal battle ensued over who owned the rights to the name Styx. DeYoung protested his unceremonious ousting from Styx in court against Shaw and Young, but in the end, Shaw and Young were given the rights to the Styx moniker. DeYoung was forced to only use the title "The Music of Styx" when he performed the band's old hits as a solo artist. This left the Styx legacy permanently scarred, with no chance of DeYoung ever returning to Styx again. The bitter breakup was detailed in VH1's Behind The Music special on the band, which aired in 2000.
(I found this also: While Tommy Shaw and James Young's material followed a hard rock vein, Dennis DeYoung's penchant for Broadway styles infuriated his bandmates, and the dramatic differences in styles were evident on Brave New World.) Arguments over which songs to release as singles, the album's artwork, the track sequencing, and the omission of DeYoung's vocals and keyboards from many of the Shaw/JY tracks fueled the fire. The band was further hindered by a viral illness contracted by DeYoung which temporarily made his eyes sensitive to light. DeYoung asked his bandmates to delay touring..(anxiety...being one of the reasons).. Later that year, DeYoung was permanently replaced by Lawrence Gowan, a popular 80s solo artist in his native Canada, though no official statement regarding a firing or replacement had been made. As a result of the replacement, DeYoung filed a lawsuit, charging that the remaining members of the band were using the Styx name without his consent, and he in turn was countersued by Shaw & JY for using the billing of "Dennis DeYoung, the voice of Styx" in his solo concerts. The suit was eventually settled on the grounds that DeYoung could bill himself as "performing the music of Styx" or "formerly of Styx", but not as "the voice of Styx", and Styx continued on with Shaw & JY at the helm.

" .. Queen said it best: "Another one bites the dust"

Dennis states it was because of some sort of anxiety attacks he gets on stage due to the lighting, and amount of touring.

The rest of the band says it was because of his wife, because he wouldn't tour without her by his side at all times. The band thinks she is a control freak, and that he is too. I just wish they would do a reunion!

yeah ive heard that thing about the anxiety...but who really knows...



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