Styx emerged from a popular Chicago club act, the Tradewinds, that featured brothers John and Chuck Panozzo (on bass and drums) and vocalist/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. Eventually the Tradewinds broke up, and the Panozzos and DeYoung formed Styx with guitarists JY Young and John Curulewski..
The group signed with an RCA label offshoot, Wooden Nickel Records, and became a regional sensation, fueled by the rock ballad, "Lady." After four albums with that label, they moved to A&M. John Curulewski left after the first release, Equinox, and was replaced by the excellent vocalist and guitarist, Tommy Shaw.
With the power of the A&M publicity and radio staff behind them, and with a roster of commercially appealing songs such as "The Grand Illusion," "Lorelei," "Fooling Yourself (Palm Of Your Hands)," "Suite Madame Blue," "Crystal Ball," "Light Up," and "Come Sail Away", Styx soon became one of the most popular FM rock bands in America. Eventually the members of the band began to fight amongst themselves, led by Shaw (who felt the band needed to be positioned in a more hard rock vein) and DeYoung (who envisioned a more theatrical and Broadway-driven format.)
Shaw and Young now front a newer version of Styx (Chuck Panozzo left after contracting AIDS). DeYoung, after getting his Broadway fix with a failed album of classics from the Great White Way, tours as "the former vocalist of Styx."