Why did Dennis DeYoung leave Styx? Exit explored as musician slams Rock and Roll hall of fame

According to a recent article by the New York Post, former member of Styx, Dennis DeYoung, slammed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The singer wrote on his Facebook on Thursday that the organisation takes too long to elect iconic musicians as its new members.

Dennis DeYoung co-founded the band Styx in 1972. The band allegedly replaced him after nine years when he wasn't allowed to tour due to a medical condition. DeYoung wrote some of the finest tracks of the band, like The Grand Illusion, Come Sail Away and Babe.

“It’s a shame that Bad Company had to wait so long to get in that it rendered Paul Rodgers unable to perform due to health concerns. Bollocks!! I would have liked to have seen him perform years ago to demonstrate how one of rock’s premiere singers ACTUALLY ROCKS.You know, like the name on their institution’s logo. I have said this repeatedly for decades: Just change the damn name,” DeYoung wrote on his facebook

DeYoung pointed out that the absence of Paul Rodgers from the ceremony was a testimony that the 'joint operates in a tragic manner'.

Due to health concerns resulting from several prior strokes, Rodgers was unable to attend the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which was held in Cleveland on November 8.

“Making so many musicians wait until they either incapacitated or dead is shameful. Joe Cocker, Warren Zevon et al are suddenly eligible decades after their success? Explain that, what’s changed except the Hall’s inability to let go of their clear prejudices and induct them? They now admit, when it’s far too late that they have erred. Have Joe, Warren and others recently become more popular? …no.”

“The Hall’s initial mission statement about who qualifies was always a ruse and a joke concocted to protect their own personal choices. I’ll stop now before I need BP meds. I have said this before — as someone whose band has never been considered, whatever I write ends up sounding like sour grapes.” Dennis DeYoung wrote in his facebook post.

Dennis DeYoung's exit from Styx

Styx was founded in 1972 in Chicago, Illinois. Currently, the band includes six members: Tommy Shaw, Chuck Panozzo, Todd Sucherman, Lawrence Gowan, Will Evankovich, and Terry Gowan.

The lead singer of the band, Dennis DeYoung, was replaced 25 years ago. He was replaced 25 years ago by the band at the time when they were preparing for a tour in support of Brave New World in 1999. Both sides had expressed their views on what had happened exactly. DeYoung has expressed that he feels betrayed by the band for replacing him.

"I was begging for my life and for my job when this happened," he tells UCR now. "As sick as I was, I didn’t really feel I could fight back", DeYoung told Ultimate Classic Rock

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Dennis DeYoung mentioned that he asked for six months from the band to recover from his medical condition, but the band didn't want to blame him. His ballads and The Kilroy Was Here project flopped, and the band used it as a reason to replace him.

Dennis DeYoung told Ultimate Classic Rock that he had huge comebacks in 1996 and 1997, but the band was non-cooperative when he mentioned his medical condition.

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