Thin Lizzy was one hell of a rock and roll band. Jailbreak and Black Rose are killer albums.
DUBLIN (AFP) - Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott was being honoured as one of the fathers of Irish rock music with a statue in the heart of Dublin.
The life-size bronze statue of Lynott, who died aged 36 in 1986 after years of drug addiction, was to be unveiled by Lord Mayor Catherine Byrne near the corner of Harry Street and Grafton Street, the capital's top shopping area.
Thin Lizzy was formed by Lynott -- its main songwriter, lead singer and bassist -- in 1969 and broke into the charts with a rock version of a traditional Irish folk tune called "Whiskey in the Jar".
It went on to release a succession of albums and singles until its break-up in 1983 at the end of a world tour in Germany.
The group's most successful album was the 1976 "Jailbreak" with the anthemic track "The Boys Are Back in Town" reaching the Top 10 in Britian and Top 20 in the United States.
Last year, Thin Lizzy's 1978 "Live and Dangerous" album was voted the best live rock album by readers of the magazine Classic Rock.
The statue in Dublin was the result of cooperation between the city council and the Roisin Dubh trust, a charity set up in 1994 by Lynott's mother Philomena to commemorate his life and achievements.
Born in Britain's second city Birmingham to a black Brazilian father and a working-class Irish mother, Lynott was largely brought up by his grandmother in Dublin. Saturday would have been his 56th birthday.
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