When Scott Gorham was around fourteen years old, at high school in Glendale, California, he took a semester in art. It was his first and only art lesson, and a good way to escape the typing course. Scott sometimes drew pictures at home and was accepted after submitting a line portrait of his sister, Vicky. However, he was daunted by the competition.
“All the kids were sat around this big table, and whenever the teacher set us a project, I would look around and think, ‘God, these people are so much better than me,’” he says. “But then she would grab my drawing and go, ‘Look, class! Scott understands what I was talking about.” I could see the other kids all looking at me, growling.”
The end of the semester marked the end of Scott’s art education. “I couldn’t remember a thing – maybe some perspective training, and some stuff about shading, but I’ve always said the most important instrument in drawing is the eraser.”
By then, Scott was playing guitar. “And the guitar always came first,” he insists. In 1974 he moved to the UK and joined Irish rockers Thin Lizzy. Scott would perform on ten best-selling albums, including Jailbreak, Johnny The Fox, Bad Reputation and Live And Dangerous, and on the hit singles, "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Rosalie", "Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight)" and "Waiting On An Alibi".
However, Scott secretly carried on drawing, with Thin Lizzy and, in more recent times, with the group Black Star Riders, and at home during downtime after a tour. He just didn’t tell his fellow musicians or even his wife, Christine. Then Christine discovered a folder containing numerous drawings, some of which dated back to the early 1980s. These images were inspired by Scott’s life on the road, getting sober, the state of the planet and even the time Phil Lynott took him to his first football match.
“But none of the band, even Phil, saw any of them,” he says. “I do wonder what Phil would have thought. But on tour, these drawings were me taking myself away from the music for a few hours.’
Then, three years ago, Scott posted a drawing called ‘The Fan’ on social media to commemorate what would have been Phil Lynott’s birthday. ‘This very personal drawing drew thousands of positive responses with fans asking whether there were other drawings and where they could buy it,’ he explains. ‘It took a further three years to persuade me and agree to introduce some of my collection to the public…. I never expected to show them to anyone.” Until now.
Scott Gorham on “Curiosity” – “I started drawing this when I was on tour with Thin Lizzy in the early '80s,maybe around the time of the Chinatown or Black Rose albums. Everybody sees eyes in this picture, so I called it 'Curiosity'. I started drawing it in a hotel room on the road, and, like most of these pictures I probably finished it back at home. No one ever saw these drawings. If Phil [Lynott] or one of the guys in the band came in, l'd have probably hidden it under the pillow. We were so focused on the music and the performance on tour, drawing became a way to pull myself out of it - even just for a couple of hours.”
Long time legendary Thin Lizzy artist Jim Fitzpatrick says, “'I was so impressed when Christine showed me Scott's work for the first time. Secret work too, and very unexpected. Of course, Scott was and is a rock genius, we all knew that, but an artist too, and a damn good one also? That was a surprise - a wonderful revelation of real quality work from an unexpected source. Of course, I wish Scott well and hopefully he will have more art treats in store for us all. I wish him every success. I always loved hanging with Scott, Philip and the gang, and Scott was always such a lovely guy in a world of music and mayhem. Keep on rockin’ Scott, and good luck with this wonderful new work."
Scott’s art was flagged in March 2024 when Scott provided a piece for use in UK’s Planet Rock radio campaign supporting their own Cash For Kids charity. Planet Rock offered their listeners the chance to buy three exclusive, limited edition, t-shirts designed by friends of the station. Led by Scott, his unique design is joined by artwork from Terrorvision’s Tony Wright and Lzzy Hale from Halestorm. The t-shirts are on sale now for £25 at planetrock.com/cfkday.
Scott Gorham will initially launch six of his pieces. Prints are available now at scottgorhamworld.com.
