Tommy Shaw is one of the guitarists of the rock band Styx. Before he became a Stygian, he was a member of the band MS Funk, which disbanded just before he joined Styx. Styx desperately needed a guitarist after John Curulewski left the band, so Shaw was selected.
With Styx, Shaw released 6 studio albums and 2 live albums, all of which were extremely successful. Shaw was responsible for some of the band's major hits, including "Renegade", "Crystal Ball" and "Fooling Yourself".
Shaw's solo career began in the mid 1980s, when Styx took a sabbatical. His first solo album, Girls With Guns (1984), featured the hit title track. He followed this up with What If (1985), in which the title track was part of the movie "Remo Williams Adventure Begins." Ambition, released in 1987 on Atlantic Records, is the only Shaw album that is still out of print.
Shaw then joined the band Damn Yankees, which featured Ted Nugent on guitar and Jack Blades on bass. They released two albums in the early 1990s. He then released one album with Jack Blades titled "Hallucination" in 1995. Shortly after this, Shaw was asked by his Styx bandmate Dennis DeYoung to rejoin the group and rerecord their first hit, "Lady", for a greatest hits package by A & M Records. Shaw accepted, and went on tour with Styx for the first time in more than 10 years.
In 1998, Shaw took a brief break from Styx to record his fourth solo album, 7 Deadly Zens, for CMC International Records. It featured the hit track "Ocean" as well as collaborations with Kevin Cronin, the lead vocalist for REO Speedwagon. Styx then released a new album in 1999 titled "Brave New World", which was the last Styx album to feature Dennis DeYoung. DeYoung and the rest of the band severed all ties after DeYoung refused to tour due to health problems.
Shaw quickly became the new leader in Styx, and after recruiting a new lineup, went on a hugely successful tour with REO Speedwagon. Since then, Shaw has kept busy within Styx, as they released more live albums and a new studio album in 2003. Shaw currently has no plans to release another solo album anytime soon.