Styx, ‘Renegade’ – Butch’s Way Back Wednesday

As a music fan there is always something new and great, but there really is something special about the songs you grew up listening to. For me, that was 70′s and 80′s classic rock. If I am in a shi**y mood, I throw in a little Zeppelin or Rush and take a trip back to rolling in my mom’s T-Bird. Now every Wednesday you get to take that trip with me. It’s Way Back Wednesday with Butch, and today’s feature is a song we first heard 35 years ago and can hear live this Friday (July 19th) at Cheyenne Frontier Days… Styx's “Renegade.”

“Renegade” was the third single off of Styx's eighth studio album, Pieces of Eight. Like the band's previous album, The Grand Illusion, it managed to achieve triple-platinum certification, thanks to the hit singles "Sing for the Day", "Blue Collar Man" and "Renegade". The song itself reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1979.

Tommy Shaw made his most lasting contribution to pop culture with this guitar-driven rocker. 'Renegade' actually began life as an acoustic ballad, but when Shaw brought it in, Dennis DeYoung (somewhat ironically) suggested that Styx heavy it up into the classic it is today. DeYoung contributed his best-known solo to the track, which has become a staple of classic rock radio, television and movies, and sporting events, as well as every Styx concert since the Dawn of Man.

Styx will be opening up for Journey this Friday (July 19th) at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Get tickets and details here. 

Now take a trip back 35 years to 1978 with us here...