DeYoung started his career as an accordionist in 1962 at the age of 15 when he teamed up with his 13-year-old neighbors
Chuck and
John Panozzo in a three-piece combo originally called The Tradewinds. DeYoung is notable for his prominent lead synthesizer solos performed on the
Oberheim Four Voice that dominated the mix with a unique tone, a key element of the Styx sound. Influenced by the recent release of
Emerson, Lake & Palmer's
first album, DeYoung (a novice synthesizer player at the time) used a
Moog modular synthesizer to record the keyboard tracks for Styx's
debut album in 1972. This album featured a rock version of "
Fanfare for the Common Man", more than five years before ELP came up with a similar idea of recording this classical composition as a rock band featuring the synthesizer, that would later become one of ELP's best known recordings. DeYoung's songs often had a grandiose style to them in the tradition of 1970s theatrical rock, which heavily influenced the group's direction in the late 1970s, culminating in the
concept albums
Paradise Theatre (1981) and
Kilroy Was Here (1983). The dissent of some members in the band during
Kilroy brought tensions between the group's members over the future direction of the band, leading to guitarist
Tommy Shaw's departure in 1984 to pursue a solo career.
1984–1989: Early solo career With Styx in limbo following Shaw's 1984 departure, DeYoung began a solo career of modest success. His first solo album,
Desert Moon (1984), generated a top 10 hit, "
Desert Moon", and the follow-up single, "Don't Wait for Heroes", cracked the
Billboard Top 100 as well. To date, "Desert Moon" is the only solo single by any Styx member to hit the Billboard Top 10. DeYoung's solo career continued with
Back to the World (1986), appearing in 268 performances as
Pontius Pilate. DeYoung was asked to perform by Tony-winning producer Forbes Candlish. Danny Goldberg, former DeYoung manager and head of A&R at Atlantic Records, asked DeYoung to record an album of Broadway standards; the resulting album,
10 on Broadway, was released in 1994. While touring with
Jesus Christ Superstar, DeYoung began writing the book and score of a musical of his own based on
Victor Hugo's 1831 novel
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
Hunchback was first produced in 1997 at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre in
Nashville, Tennessee.
1995–1999: Second reunion with Styx A&M Records had released the
compilation album Styx - Classics, Volume 15, but since A&M did not own the rights to the original recording of "
Lady" (which had been released by
Wooden Nickel Records through a distribution deal with
RCA Records), the track could not be included on the disc. In 1995, DeYoung called Shaw to sing on a new version of "Lady" even though he had not performed on the original. Styx reunited, but without a terminally ill John Panozzo. The band recorded a new version of "Lady," which became the lead track ("
Lady '95") of a new compilation album,
Styx Greatest Hits, for A&M.
Todd Sucherman (uncredited) provided the drum track for the recording session. Panozzo died on July 16, 1996. Sucherman took his place, and in 1996, Styx toured for the first time in four years. Styx's 1996 tour, dubbed the "Return to Paradise" tour by the band, proved remarkably successful, and a 2-disc live recording of the show (with three new studio tracks) proved even more so; 1997's
Return to Paradise live album, produced by DeYoung,
went gold and spawned a top-30 hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, the DeYoung-penned "
Paradise". With the positive response and a new record label (
CMC International), Styx returned to the studio in 1998 and began work on their first studio album in eight years.
1999: Departure from Styx DeYoung and his bandmates celebrated the success of 1996's "Return to Paradise" tour, and 1997's "Grand Illusion" tour. In 1998 the band began work on a new album,
Brave New World. In January 1998, DeYoung's physical health took a turn for the worse; DeYoung said he was afflicted with a severe case of the flu, and the extremely high fever damaged his eyes resulting in severe sensitivity to light which caused him heavy fatigue. James Young and Tommy Shaw of Styx suggested booking a tour in support of the
Brave New World album. DeYoung asked for six months to recover; Shaw and Young instead replaced him with Canadian rocker
Lawrence Gowan in 1999 and went on tour without DeYoung. After this band toured for a year and a half under the name Styx, but without any compensation to DeYoung for usage of the name, DeYoung sued his former bandmates, seeking the rights to use the group's name in support of his solo career. The suit was settled in 2001, with the group being allowed to keep the name Styx and DeYoung able to use the name in descriptive phrases such as "the music of Styx" or "formerly of Styx" (but not "the voice of Styx"). DeYoung has said that the manner in which Shaw and Young vilified him on VH1's
Behind the Music triggered the lawsuit. Styx has consistently maintained that any chance of a reunion with DeYoung is unlikely. When asked about any possible reunions with DeYoung, James (JY) Young of Styx commented on an edition of
VH1's
Behind the Music television series, "Maybe when they are playing hockey on the
river Styx. And maybe not even then." Young also addressed the reunion issue on an episode of VH1's
Feuds 2000, noting the possibility of a reunion would only happen "[as] the
Eagles said, 'when Hell freezes over'." Bassist
Chuck Panozzo, no longer actively touring with Styx due to health problems associated with his HIV-positive status, offered a more hopeful tone to a writer doing a story on the band for tampabay.com; while reflecting on the effect the loss of his fraternal twin brother, John had on the band, Panozzo noted, "Before any more of us die, I would hope that it could happen. Every year that it doesn't happen is another year that goes by. And if you wait too long, who will care?" However, in a 2011 interview with
Rolling Stone, Tommy Shaw indicated that he didn't think a reunion was realistic, noting, "We're crazy, but we're not insane."
2000–2019: Post-Styx career In February 2000, DeYoung was approached to perform a concert featuring his many songs from Styx, as well as his solo works and his 1997 stage musical
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with an orchestra. The show was performed at the
Rosemont Theatre, near DeYoung's hometown of Chicago. His wife Suzanne and sister-in-law Dawn Marie Feusi were backup singers. The concert was well received and formed the basis for a touring version of the show, and eventually a 2004 live album,
The Music of Styx - Live with Symphony Orchestra. (DEP Records of Canada released the album in Canada in 2007 as
Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx Live with Symphony Orchestra, which achieved platinum status (over 50,000 copies). After recovering from illness, DeYoung returned to touring with a 50-piece orchestra augmented by a five-piece rock band, which included Tommy Dziallo on guitar, Hank Horton on bass, and
Kyle Woodring (formerly with
John Mellencamp and
Deana Carter) on drums, all of whom also played shows with DeYoung with or without the orchestra. DeYoung made his major motion picture debut in 2005's
The Perfect Man, in which he played the lead vocalist in a Styx
tribute band. On April 20, 2006, at the Community Theatre in
Morristown, New Jersey, DeYoung performed with former Styx guitarist and bassist
Glen Burtnik as part of his
Lost Treasures concert series. It marked the first time in nearly seven years that the two had appeared together. The duo opened with the Beatles classic "
We Can Work It Out" as well as "Watching the World Go By" and "All for Love", songs that were originally written for the unreleased
Edge of the Century 2 Styx album. In August 2006, DeYoung appeared along with
Supertramp's
Roger Hodgson on
Canadian Idol, where he performed with and mentored the contestants. On September 14 and 15, 2006, DeYoung appeared with
Hal Sparks on
Celebrity Duets, an American reality television show produced by
Simon Cowell. They sang Styx songs "
Come Sail Away" and "
Mr. Roboto". DeYoung and Sparks were invited back to perform in the final of
Celebrity Duets on September 28, 2006. They performed the Styx breakthrough hit "
Lady", written by DeYoung in 1973, with DeYoung serenading his wife Suzanne in the audience while Hal did the same for his long-time girlfriend, and finished in 3rd place. DEP Records also released his DVD
The Rock: Symphonic Music of Styx, which went triple platinum. This production went on to win the
Joseph Jefferson Award for best musical in Chicago in 2008. On September 20, 2008, DeYoung performed at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame benefit concert for the
John Entwistle Foundation. The benefit concert was held at the
Koka Booth Amphitheatre in
Cary, North Carolina, and featured many other rock and roll musicians. He and his band performed many of Styx's hits. , part of the
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, in
Walt Disney World In November and December 2008, DeYoung was a featured artist on the German
Night of the Proms 20-city tour. He joined
Robin Gibb,
Tears for Fears,
10cc and
Kim Wilde on the sold-out tour. He also accompanied Robin Gibb of the
Bee Gees on piano performing "
How Deep Is Your Love". On July 12, 2009, in his hometown Chicago, DeYoung was given a Great Performer of Illinois Award at "an annual festival in Millennium Park that celebrates best of art and culture in the State of Illinois Following the award ceremony in the
Frank Gehry-designed
Jay Pritzker Pavilion in the park, DeYoung and his band performed many of Styx's hits in a free concert. In 2010, DeYoung formed a band dedicated to the music of Styx, adding guitarist and lead vocalist August Zadra and bassist-vocalist Craig Carter to join John Blasucci, guitarist Jimmy Leahey,
Tom Sharpe (who left at the end of 2014 to continue his tenure with Mannheim Steamroller, and was replaced by Mike Morales), and wife Suzanne DeYoung in performing Styx hits "Renegade", "Blue Collar Man" and others as well as DeYoung's solo works. On October 21, 2014, a 2 CD + DVD and Blu-ray package,
Dennis DeYoung... And the Music of Styx Live in Los Angeles, was released in the US via
Frontiers Records. The European release date was October 17, 2014. Also on October 21, 2014, a condensed version of this live concert package was broadcast on AXS TV Headliner Club Concert Series. The concert took place at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on March 18, 2014.
2020–present: New studio albums On May 22, 2020, DeYoung released
26 East, Vol. 1, his seventh solo studio album and first in over a decade. The title comes from the real-life address on the South Side of Chicago which DeYoung grew up in, where he formed the nucleus of what would become Styx. The last song on the record, "To the Good Old Days", features
Julian Lennon.
26 East, Vol. 2 was released on June 11, 2021, and is intended to be DeYoung's final album. The album features fellow Chicago natives guitarist
Tom Morello of
Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave on a track co-written with
Jim Peterik of
The Ides of March, formerly of
Survivor and
38 Special fame. On June 5, 2022, Styx was inducted into the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum Hall of Fame. That same night Dennis DeYoung was additionally inducted as a songwriter. In August 2023, it was announced the music publishing catalog rights for a majority of DeYoung's compositions had been acquired by the New York City-headquartered music publishing and talent management company,
Primary Wave. The deal included master recording rights for a majority of recordings featuring DeYoung's performances. ==Personal life==