Styx “Dear John” released on Return to Paradise

Dear John Styx

Writer(s): Tommy Shaw (see lyrics here) Released: May 5, 1997 (album cut) Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.31 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The roots of the rock band Styx date back to 1961 in Roseland, Chicago. Dennis DeYoung, the band’s singer and keyboardist, was 14 years old when he met his neighbors, the 12-year-old Panozzo twin brothers, Chuck (bass) and John (drums). They formed the Tradewinds, which became TW4 in 1965, and added guitarist John Curulewski in 1969. Guitarist James “J.Y.” Young came on board a year later. The officially became Styx when they signed to Wooden Nickel Records in 1972. They released four albums before moving to the A&M label for their 1975 album Equinox. Curulewski left the band just as they were about to tour in support of the album and Styx brought guitarist Tommy Shaw on board as his replacement. This cemented the lineup that would experience the greatest success through the rest of the ‘70s and into the early ‘80s. Shaw left the band after the 1983 Kilroy Was Here, dissatisfied with the more theatrical direction DeYoung was trying to take the band. The band wouldn’t release another studio album until 1990 and that was without Shaw. He returned to the fold in 1995, but the group only released a couple of new songs and a remake of their first hit, “Lady,” over two compilations. Sadly, John Panozzo died in July 1996 from cirrhosis of the liver brought on by chronic alcoholism. That same year, the rest of the band embarked on a reunion tour with Todd Sucherman on drums. In 1997, a live album, Return to Paradise was released which included three new studio cuts. One of those, “Dear John,” was Shaw’s tribute to John. The song is a beautiful tribute reminiscing about their fun times together and a hopeful message that they would see each other again some day. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/11/2022; last updated 11/1/2022.