How Styx Secured Their Future With Just One Album

Dennis DeYoung had landed some important songs in his early days writing for Styx. But when he wrote “The Grand Illusion,” he knew something felt different.

“I kept looking at those lyrics and thinking about that song, there’s something there,” the vocalist and songwriter tells the UCR Podcast in a new interview you can listen to below. “That song only was the reason Styx even did thematic albums. That song and the success of the album kind of convinced me that there was a goldmine there with this band, that we could pull off something like that. It’s only because I thought what I had said in the lyrics of ‘The Grand Illusion’ was valuable to myself and to an audience.”

“The things [the lyrics] touch on about the idea that deep inside we’re all the same, no matter how rich and famous [we get] we all live in this universe,” he continues. “We all have to deal with the same issues, ultimately. I said money’s greatest function is to protect us from our stupidity. You can buy your way out of things. You make mistakes when you haven’t got any, you’re dead. [So] money’s greatest benefit is that. When I hit on that in ‘The Grand Illusion,’ I thought, ‘Wow, we can do something good here [and] with [1978’s] Pieces of Eight and [1983’s] Kilroy Was Here, [though] some [were] vastly more successful than others.”

Listen to Styx’s ‘The Grand Illusion’

Still, he adds — if 1977’s The Grand Illusion album had “been a turkey,” fans would have never seen another album like it. He acknowledges that most of the audience wasn’t paying attention to or picking up on the messaging that they were putting into the albums and that’s okay. Because ultimately, it was about the music and good songs always remained the main focus. To the point that he laments an alternate universe where they would have put “Renegade,” from Pieces on Eight on Kilroy Was Here instead. In hindsight, he saw that the latter album could have used a character like the one that Tommy Shaw brought to the listeners’ ears with “Renegade.”

READ MORE: How Styx Broke Through With ‘The Grand Illusion’

What Were the Challenges of ‘The Grand Illusion’s’ Success?

The popularity of The Grand Illusion, which sold millions of copies, was driven in part by the album’s two Top 40 singles, “Renegade” and “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)” as well as additionally, “Sing For the Day.” It left the band members — DeYoung in particular — overwhelmed when it came time to work on songs for Pieces of Eight. They’d each made more money in a year than they’d ever dreamed was possible.

So quite naturally, the monetary theme and others from the previous album continued, particularly with the title track. The pressures he was feeling were addressed in other ways also, including “I’m O.K.,” which he terms as a pep talk. “I can’t say I was 100% fine, so it was a song to myself,” he explains. “Other people have found comfort in the lyrics over the years, because at one point or another, so many of us don’t feel okay and they’re in the eternal search for feeling okay. That song, I think of it as a pep talk, school spirit week. It’s a big gymnasium assembly and we’re all going to stand up and say, ‘We’re all okay,'” He pauses as he completes that last thought to pay the appropriate homage to Cheap Trick’s similarly-minded “Surrender.”

Listen to Styx’s ‘I’m O.K.’

READ MORE: How Styx Kept Getting Bigger With ‘Pieces of Eight’

What if Big Success Never Happened for Styx?

That was a question that was definitely on DeYoung’s mind as they were the opener for one big band after another. He remembers standing backstage with drummer John Panozzo after they’d just finished playing and Kiss was getting ready to take the stage for their headlining set. “Always the support act, we were discussing, ‘Is this ever going to happen for us?’ We’re looking at all the equipment — the show was enormous for its time — and [the memories of] those Kiss [concerts] made their way into ‘Come Sail Away,'” he says now. “[There were lyrics that were] a direct reference to those kinds of conversations.”

What Is Dennis DeYoung Doing Now?

As his family revealed with a post on social media in June, he’s been off the road taking care of his longtime wife, Suzanne, during a battle with cancer that has required multiple rounds of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation  “My father has taken on the emotional and physical burdens of being her primary caregiver, reassuring her, making her laugh, and performing the everyday tasks that kept their home running smoothly,” his daughter shared with fans in the note. “He has turned down many opportunities during this time, choosing instead to be by her side. One thing is certain: his love for my mother has never wavered.” That’s something that is clear as the two interact during our conversation, with Suzanne occasionally interjecting some additional details.

“We’ve known each other for over 60 years, and he has an ability to hear, think, dream, not just a song, but every stop, chord, [and] whatever in his head before it even comes out on a piece of paper.,” she proudly shares near the end of our interview. “I’m still to this day, amazed by it.” Clearly she remains one of his fiercest advocates, but the singer has also been working to document his life, both in and out of Styx. He’s now many chapters deep into the project (which began in 2014) and had completed a section on Pieces of Eight in the weeks prior to our discussion.

Listen to Styx’s ‘Pieces of Eight’

While it’s not yet time to start talking about when it might come out, DeYoung promises that there will be no shortage of tales to be told — including details about their early touring partners. “I’ve got all kinds of stories — and shameless plug — they’re all in the book,” he laughs. “There’s a Kiss story, an Aerosmith story that’s historic, not because of us, but because of them. There’s a ZZ Top story and I’ll probably getting around to telling the Frank Zappa story.”

Though he hasn’t stepped on a concert stage since 2020, he did share a positive update with fans in early August, appropriately as he received a visit from his guitarist August Zadra. “My great friend AZ stopped by the house yesterday and it was fantastic to see him. It’s been more than 5 years and I’ve missed him and the whole band,” the songwriter shared. “He was in town for a concert with [Boston’s]Tommy DeCarlo and [former Chicago vocalist] Jason Scheff. We talked the past and the future and it was a blast.”