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Former Thin Lizzy member, Darren Wharton, spoke to eonmusic about his band Renegade’s show at Dublin’s 3Arena on January 4, promising an action packed evening with a few surprises thrown in. The gig, which will take place on the 40th anniversary of Phil Lynott’s passing, is also set to feature former Thin Lizzy member Eric Bell, and Ricky Warwick, Marco Mendoza, and Richard Fortus who featured in later line ups.
Speaking about how Renegade came about, Wharton said, “I wasn’t planning to do Renegade, but I kept getting asked to do appearances with various tribute bands in Sweden and Ireland and all over the place, and I realized how much I’d missed playing the Thin Lizzy set, and I just said to the lads that it seems silly that I’m not doing it. I was on for the albums, and I was there with Phil and Scott [Gorham] and Brian [Downey], so why not do a version of a Thin Lizzy tribute band, ourselves?”
Speaking about his time in Thin Lizzy, which ran from 1980 – 1983, Darren said, “Philip and Scott and Brian really took me under their wing, and they looked after me. They all called me the baby of the band, and I didn’t mind that. It felt quite sort of endearing, and they kept me away from any sort of, I mean, there was things flying about them, but I was never involved with it and no one ever offered me anything, apart from maybe a little strong whiskey before we’d go on the stage now and again to get the nerves down! But yeah, I was a fish out of water, absolutely, when I first joined. I was very naïve. When I joined Thin Lizzy, it was a big, wide, fantastic world. Scott always said to me, ‘every night, it’s a Saturday night,’ and it was; we were playing sold out concerts, and there were parties, and it was wild. It was brilliant.”
On the Dedication gig: “There’s going to be a hell of a party going on that night. It’s all to remember Phil and the music of Thin Lizzy that was created by Philip and Scott Gorham and Brian Downey and Robbo and Gary Moore and John Sykes. It’s all about the family of Thin Lizzy, and we’re there to celebrate that fantastic legacy that the guys have left us. As I say, I’m just very proud to be part of it. We’ve got a couple of friends there; we’ve got Ricky and Richard Fortus from Guns N’ Roses, and we’ve got Renegade, and we’ve got the RTE Orchestra, and it’s going to be a hell of a night.”.
Read the interview at eonmusic.co.uk.
The Dedication takes place at the 3arena, Dublin on January 4, 2026, with tickets, from €79.95, on sale here.
