Tom Hamilton tells how he ended up playing in Thin Lizzy in 2016

The bassist Tom Hamilton helped form Aerosmith in 1970, and alongside singer Steven Tyler, he was one of the only two members to remain with the band throughout all its eras. He never toured with another band until 2016 and he accepted the invitation to be part of a Thin Lizzy celebration tour, marking the 30th anniversary of the death of the band’s leader, bassist and singer Phil Lynott.

He recalled in an interview with Defenders Of The Faith, the musician explained why he ended up touring with the group in 2016 and 2017.

Tom Hamilton explains how he ended up playing in Thin Lizzy in 2016/2017

“I went to see Motörhead with my son one night and after the show, we were able to spend a lot of time with Lemmy, who was so great to us. We got to meet his band. His drummer was Mikkey Dee. A few months later, he got in touch with me and said he was going to be playing with Thin Lizzy on a tour to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Phil Lynott‘s death.”

“He said they were looking for a bass player and if I wanted the gig, it was mine. I knew in my heart there was no way I would say no, although it would be the first time I ever did something outside of Aerosmith, so I had some butterflies. I had done some minor things outside of my day job, but never a tour.”

He continued:

“A few months after that, after studying my ass off learning the songs, I was in London for the first day of rehearsals. I thought I had the songs down, but I was a little behind the curve. Damon Johnson, who is now a great friend of mine, was playing guitar. He and I got together one on one the next day and he helped me get polished. What a great guy!

“From then on, rehearsals went better and better and then we were off to our first gig. We played five or six big festivals in Europe and it was a blast. I loved playing ‘The Boys are Back in Town’ and ‘Whiskey In A Jar’.

“After the festivals, we played on a cruise which was an entirely new experience that I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, I never met Phil Lynott. Learning his songs gave me an immense amount of respect for what he accomplished musically,” Tom Hamilton said.

Phil Lynott was definitely one of the greatest frontmen of all time that left us too soon in January 4, 1986 at 36. Thin Lizzy’s bassist and singer made a huge success with the band from 1969 to 1983. Releasing 12 amazing albums that gave us classics such as “The Boys Are Back In Town”, “Cowboy Song”. Also “Whiskey In The Jar”, “Jailbreak” and many more.