Ricky Warwick is arguably the busiest man in rock. Front man of Black Star Riders and the occasionally activity Thin Lizzy, he's also been front and centre at the welcome return of The Almighty. As if that wasn't enough, he's a busy solo artist, with March 2025 seeing the release of his latest set 'Blood Ties'. "I desperately proud of this album", he tells us over a chat via Zoom, and with an album laden with catchy hooks and irresistible choruses, why wouldn't he be? Talking the new set, as well as The Almighty's return and Black Star Riders' hiatus, we caught up with the County Down native. Angel of desolation; Eamon O'Neill.
Hello. Ricky, how are you doing?
I'm very well, thanks, mate. We're out with Stiff Little Fingers at the minute so I'm in the hotel just outside Manchester. It's album release day, which is always exciting. It's a musician's Christmas.
I make this is it your eighth solo album?
I suppose, if you're counting 'Patsy Klein' as a double album; is that one album or is that two albums? I don't know. Yeah, it's getting up there. It's definitely getting up there.
You're obviously very well known from The Almighty, Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy, but it's been a while since you stood on your own. How does it feel to have your name on the album sleeve?
Is that a big thing. It hasn't really been that long. I mean, I think 'When Life was Hard and Fast' came out in 2021, but obviously we were still dealing with the pandemic so that didn't get the tour that the way I would have liked to. I've been doing the solo thing for such a long time now, over 20 years. I was doing it when The Almighty split up, and I was doing it before I was in Lizzy, so it's always been there, and it's something I always like to return to. Right now, it's very much in the forefront of what I'm doing so yeah, I really enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn't do it. I'm desperately proud of this album, and I'm so happy that it's finally out there.
I think I read somewhere you said that it was Joe Elliot that gave you the push to go out and be a solo artist.
Yeah, it was Joe. Joe had a big role to play in it, as did a publisher at the time who really pushed me as well to do the solo acoustic thing, and Andy Cairns of Therapy?. Andy was very supportive at that time as well, and still is. So those three guys, when they're telling you that you can do this, that gives you confidence and the belief that you can, so I owe them a great deal.
Who plays on the album?
The band is really just me and [producer] Keith Nelson. Keith and I pretty much handled everything. Keith played a lot of the drums, Keith and I shared the bass guitar duties, and I did most of everything on guitars. Keith did a lot of lead guitars. Obviously we've got a lot of special guests on there as well contributing, but there was no real band.
One thing that's clear is you know how to write a catchy chorus and real hooks, the opening track 'Angels of Desolation' has it in spades. It's classic Ricky Warwick.
Wow. Well, I'm not really sure what that means, but yeah, that's a that's a big song for me, just subject-wise as well, about dealing with quitting the booze and getting clean and delving into that. Musically, it's one of those ones that people, when they hear, they would instantly know that it's me. It was easy to write. It was one of those that, I started writing it, and the chorus just came really quickly, and the melody flowed. You tap into a vein, and it's sort of free flowing; you're onto something that you don't have to labour over. That song came together very quickly and didn't really change very much from the acoustic demo that I sent Keith until we put it on the album.
I could hear The Almighty in it, right through the Black Star Riders.
Yeah, I don't really think too much about what's gone before when I'm writing. I don't really think about the other bands, in fact, I don't think about them at all. I'm the primary songwriter in all those bands that you've mentioned, and that's a great thing, so I can't really separate myself from myself. So whatever I do is obviously going to sound like the other stuff that I'm involved in, and there's no way I can escape that. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing - hopefully it's a good thing - I'm who I am, so when I write a song, I think it's always got a little bit of flavours of everything else I'm involved in.
Latest single, 'Rise and Grind' is the second song in the album, and it's a really dirty, riffy track.
Yeah, absolutely, it's a real heavy riff when it kicks in, and I'm really pleased I managed to get Wigan Casino into the lyrics. Then it goes into this almost Rolling Stones vibe in the verse, completely shifting in feel. The two sort of meld together really, really well, and it seems to work really well. I'm quite pleased with how that turned out.
You mentioned guests, and you have Lita Ford on 'Don't Leave Me in the Dark'; how did that come about?
Well, the song was demoed and written, and it was one of the first ones we did for the album. I was living with it, and the more I listened to it, I just thought; "this would be great as a duet. Wouldn't it be great if I could get a really hardcore female rocker to sing it with me, like a Lita Ford, or a Joan Jett or a Chrissie Hynde?" And then one of those things out of the blue, my manager called me up and said; "I've just picked up Lita Ford for management", and I was like; "hold that thought!". So we sent the track to Lita and she loved it, and she just said; "yep, when do you need me in the studio? I'll be absolutely up for doing it", and that's how it came about. So it was a real, absolute honour to have Lita on there, because she's just fantastic, and she just does such a brilliant job on that track.
You and Lita's vocals just meld so well, which is not always a given, is it?
Yeah, and we didn't know each other prior to the track. We'd never met, and the fact that we bonded so well and got on like a house on fire when we shot the video, we had such a great laugh that day. She was just great. She was everything that I hoped she would be and more. I mean, she's the real deal, and she's got a great attitude, and brought so much to, not just to the track, but to the video shoot as well. So it was just wonderful to work with her.
I'm very well, thanks, mate. We're out with Stiff Little Fingers at the minute so I'm in the hotel just outside Manchester. It's album release day, which is always exciting. It's a musician's Christmas.
I make this is it your eighth solo album?
I suppose, if you're counting 'Patsy Klein' as a double album; is that one album or is that two albums? I don't know. Yeah, it's getting up there. It's definitely getting up there.
You're obviously very well known from The Almighty, Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy, but it's been a while since you stood on your own. How does it feel to have your name on the album sleeve?
Is that a big thing. It hasn't really been that long. I mean, I think 'When Life was Hard and Fast' came out in 2021, but obviously we were still dealing with the pandemic so that didn't get the tour that the way I would have liked to. I've been doing the solo thing for such a long time now, over 20 years. I was doing it when The Almighty split up, and I was doing it before I was in Lizzy, so it's always been there, and it's something I always like to return to. Right now, it's very much in the forefront of what I'm doing so yeah, I really enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn't do it. I'm desperately proud of this album, and I'm so happy that it's finally out there.
I think I read somewhere you said that it was Joe Elliot that gave you the push to go out and be a solo artist.
Yeah, it was Joe. Joe had a big role to play in it, as did a publisher at the time who really pushed me as well to do the solo acoustic thing, and Andy Cairns of Therapy?. Andy was very supportive at that time as well, and still is. So those three guys, when they're telling you that you can do this, that gives you confidence and the belief that you can, so I owe them a great deal.
Who plays on the album?
The band is really just me and [producer] Keith Nelson. Keith and I pretty much handled everything. Keith played a lot of the drums, Keith and I shared the bass guitar duties, and I did most of everything on guitars. Keith did a lot of lead guitars. Obviously we've got a lot of special guests on there as well contributing, but there was no real band.
One thing that's clear is you know how to write a catchy chorus and real hooks, the opening track 'Angels of Desolation' has it in spades. It's classic Ricky Warwick.
Wow. Well, I'm not really sure what that means, but yeah, that's a that's a big song for me, just subject-wise as well, about dealing with quitting the booze and getting clean and delving into that. Musically, it's one of those ones that people, when they hear, they would instantly know that it's me. It was easy to write. It was one of those that, I started writing it, and the chorus just came really quickly, and the melody flowed. You tap into a vein, and it's sort of free flowing; you're onto something that you don't have to labour over. That song came together very quickly and didn't really change very much from the acoustic demo that I sent Keith until we put it on the album.
I could hear The Almighty in it, right through the Black Star Riders.
Yeah, I don't really think too much about what's gone before when I'm writing. I don't really think about the other bands, in fact, I don't think about them at all. I'm the primary songwriter in all those bands that you've mentioned, and that's a great thing, so I can't really separate myself from myself. So whatever I do is obviously going to sound like the other stuff that I'm involved in, and there's no way I can escape that. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing - hopefully it's a good thing - I'm who I am, so when I write a song, I think it's always got a little bit of flavours of everything else I'm involved in.
Latest single, 'Rise and Grind' is the second song in the album, and it's a really dirty, riffy track.
Yeah, absolutely, it's a real heavy riff when it kicks in, and I'm really pleased I managed to get Wigan Casino into the lyrics. Then it goes into this almost Rolling Stones vibe in the verse, completely shifting in feel. The two sort of meld together really, really well, and it seems to work really well. I'm quite pleased with how that turned out.
You mentioned guests, and you have Lita Ford on 'Don't Leave Me in the Dark'; how did that come about?
Well, the song was demoed and written, and it was one of the first ones we did for the album. I was living with it, and the more I listened to it, I just thought; "this would be great as a duet. Wouldn't it be great if I could get a really hardcore female rocker to sing it with me, like a Lita Ford, or a Joan Jett or a Chrissie Hynde?" And then one of those things out of the blue, my manager called me up and said; "I've just picked up Lita Ford for management", and I was like; "hold that thought!". So we sent the track to Lita and she loved it, and she just said; "yep, when do you need me in the studio? I'll be absolutely up for doing it", and that's how it came about. So it was a real, absolute honour to have Lita on there, because she's just fantastic, and she just does such a brilliant job on that track.
You and Lita's vocals just meld so well, which is not always a given, is it?
Yeah, and we didn't know each other prior to the track. We'd never met, and the fact that we bonded so well and got on like a house on fire when we shot the video, we had such a great laugh that day. She was just great. She was everything that I hoped she would be and more. I mean, she's the real deal, and she's got a great attitude, and brought so much to, not just to the track, but to the video shoot as well. So it was just wonderful to work with her.
You've just released the vide for 'The Crickets Stayed in Clovis", as well as a short documentary about the recording of the video at George Best's childhood home.
Yeah, it's a special song. It's one of the ones I didn't have a lot to do with, bar writing the melody. My good buddy Sam Robinson wrote most of the lyrics on that one, and Keith actually brought the guitar riffs in, so I just sort of put the chords together and wrote the melody on that one. Sam sent me the idea for the lyrics, and I just thought; "this is fantastic, what a great metaphor for life!"; using the tragic Buddy Holly story for life as a game of chance and how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye. I thought that was a great ethos for the whole meaning behind the song. And then Sam suggested the George Best house. Sam had a connection there, and we were able to get to George's childhood home for most of the day to shoot there, and me being a big George Best fan growing up, it was a dream come true. I know George's sister Barbara quite well, and she was thrilled that we were in there shooting. She said; "it hasn't really changed that much, actually, since we lived there", and; "it was lovely that you're in filming the song in there", and "George would have loved it", and it was so it was lovely. It was really great, really, really cool.
Something that I loved about that mini-documentary was that you said you carry George's autograph in your pocket.
Yeah, it goes everywhere with me since 1995, when I met him. It's been in my back pocket in my wallet all over the world, and pretty much everywhere I go. I've got two things in that wallet; I've got George Best's autograph, and I've got a ration token from the First World War from my great grandfather's bakery in Belfast, with his name John Warwick on it. Those two things are go everywhere with me.
Yeah, it's a special song. It's one of the ones I didn't have a lot to do with, bar writing the melody. My good buddy Sam Robinson wrote most of the lyrics on that one, and Keith actually brought the guitar riffs in, so I just sort of put the chords together and wrote the melody on that one. Sam sent me the idea for the lyrics, and I just thought; "this is fantastic, what a great metaphor for life!"; using the tragic Buddy Holly story for life as a game of chance and how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye. I thought that was a great ethos for the whole meaning behind the song. And then Sam suggested the George Best house. Sam had a connection there, and we were able to get to George's childhood home for most of the day to shoot there, and me being a big George Best fan growing up, it was a dream come true. I know George's sister Barbara quite well, and she was thrilled that we were in there shooting. She said; "it hasn't really changed that much, actually, since we lived there", and; "it was lovely that you're in filming the song in there", and "George would have loved it", and it was so it was lovely. It was really great, really, really cool.
Something that I loved about that mini-documentary was that you said you carry George's autograph in your pocket.
Yeah, it goes everywhere with me since 1995, when I met him. It's been in my back pocket in my wallet all over the world, and pretty much everywhere I go. I've got two things in that wallet; I've got George Best's autograph, and I've got a ration token from the First World War from my great grandfather's bakery in Belfast, with his name John Warwick on it. Those two things are go everywhere with me.
Billy Duffy from The Cult is also a guest on this album, and you worked with him and Billy Morrison in Circus Diablo, way back in 2007; what was it like working with him again?
Well, I've known Billy since the early '90s, since the early days of The Almighty actually. Billy and Ian [Astbury] came to see us play at the Marquee right back even before we put the first record out. Billy and Ian came down and we've been mates ever since. He's a bit like myself; he spends a lot of time in LA, and a lot of time over in the UK, and whenever he's over, we'll get together, we'll hang out, and we'll meet up. So he's a mate, and it just happened that he was in LA when we're doing a record. I've been trying to get him on a solo record for ages, so the timing aligned, and he was up for doing it. So it was brilliant, because he's such an iconic guitar player, so it was amazing to have him on there.
How did your involvement with Circus Diablo come about?
The Circus Diablo thing was one of those things where I'd just moved to LA, and I'd literally just landed, and I'd known Billy Duffy and Billy Morrison from my time living in London, and of course, I'm in LA, and I'm looking for some friends as I'm in a new country, a new city, so I reached out to Billy Morrison, and we were just chatting, and next thing I know, we're in Billy's home studio, and Billy Duffy calls around, and we're jamming on these riffs and ideas, and then, lo and behold, suddenly there's a whole album.
As of March 2025, Wikipedia says that the band is technically still active.
I mean, it's funny, I actually, just at the end of last year, was working on some stuff with Billy Morrison. Billy Morrison is obviously incredibly busy with his art, and he's just got a solo record that's come out as well and it's doing incredibly well, but we're actually working on some new Circus Diablo ideas. Whether that will come out, I don't know when, if, or whatever, but we've been demoing a few song; me, Billy and Brett Scallions from Fuel. So we've been dabbling in some ideas. So who knows, it might see the light of day. I think it's always a bit hasty as an artist - and I've learned that from experience - to draw a line under anything, because you never know when you might need it again. The Almighty is a case in point; you go; "that's it, we're done, we're never playing again", but people change, and perspectives change, and things change, and people change their minds as humans do, so I always think it's a bit silly to go; "that's it, I'm never doing that again. I'm done", because you just never know.
On that note, on social media you have recently teased that The Almighty are in the studio again.
We were in the studio for two days doing a track, and that will be revealed very soon, what that is, and what that's for. That was lovely, and it went very well, and you never know, it might lead to something else, who knows?
The Almighty are finally returning to Belfast for a live show in November; how does that feel?
We played the Rosetta bar way back in the day, and I think we've done the Mandela a couple of times over the years, but we never headlined the Ulster Hall. We did open for Def Leppard there when the band briefly got back together at the start of the century, and so although The Almighty have played Belfast four or five times, this will definitely be the biggest show the band's done in Belfast. Obviously playing the Ulster Hall, personally, for me, is a huge, huge deal.
The first two Almighty albums were reissued on colour vinyl in 2023; have you any plans to follow with the rest of the catalogue?
Yeah, it's just contractual, you know? It's just trying to get through all the contracts and the licensing deals and getting them reissued, and that takes time. There's a lot of work involved in that. I think people don't realise how difficult that is. When you're going back some thirty years, contracts go missing; people can't find them, and getting clearance, it's all; who owns what? Who owns the rights to what? It's a bit of a minefield, but we're getting there, and I'd love to get them all reissued. I think that's the plan, and that's certainly what we're working on. It just takes a bit of time.
Do you collect your own vinyl? Do you own all your Almighty albums?
As I've got older, I've kind of replenished the Almighty stock. I mean, it was one of those things where when an album came, the record company would give you a ton of stuff, and people would come around your house and go; "oh, is that your new album?", and I'd be like; "just take it. I'll get another one", and then you never would, and then, before you know it, suddenly you've got only three albums of your career there, because everybody's helped themselves. But I actually went through a phase of a few years ago of actually buying back loads of all my stuff on eBay, so I've pretty much got everything now that we put out, because I just think it's important to have and maybe one day hand it down to my kids. They might want to, or they might want to put it back up on eBay. Who knows?
Did you have conversations with the sellers? Did they know it was you?
No, no, nobody twigged, because I did it through my wife's account, so nobody sussed it out. It was nice.
What has the Almighty reunion meant to you, personally, to be standing once again on the stage with those guys?
I think it's lovely. It's lovely that we're all still here, and we're all still well and healthy. Floyd and Stumpy, I can trace back to when I first moved to Scotland from Northern Ireland and my first day at school. I met them at the first day of school in Scotland, and that was way back in 1980, so they've been my buddies for 45 years. So take the Almighty and music equation out, and they're lifelong friends that I'm still with. We're still making noise together and still playing to a lot of people, and I think that's testimony to them and to the band and to what we stood for. Sadly, a lot of people that worked for us are no longer with us, and I think we remember that every time we get together, the fact that the four of us are still here, and we're strong. It's just nice, and we're having a laugh doing it, and it's good fun.
What's the status of Thin Lizzy and Black Star riders right now?
The status of Black Star Riders is that we're on a hiatus. How long that will be? I don't know. I would certainly like to think we'll do some more shows at some point quite soon. Recording wise, I don't know. I'm not sure, not really feeling it. I'm putting everything into the solo stuff at the minute, but you never know. Certainly show-wise, I'd like to think we'll be doing something again quite soon.
Lizzy, that's Scott [Gorham]'s call. I can't really speak speak for Scott on that. When Scott wants to do something and he wants me to be involved, I will absolutely be there with bells on, but I know he's enjoying doing his art, and playing golf and being Scott Gorham, taking it a bit easy at the minute. He's earned every right to do that.
Back to the new album, and your stepdaughter has designed to sleeve. That must be very special for you.
That was lovely. I've always loved her artwork, and when I got the title together for the album, I just thought it would be great to get Zoe, my stepdaughter, to do something for it. I sent her the album title and a few ideas, and she pinged that back to me, and I just went; "you've nailed it. This is fantastic". So it was real, real proud moment, and lovely that she's involved.
You've got a busy year ahead with solo dates, the album, and The Almighty doing dates; is there anything we don't know about?
I'm just keeping busy. I'd obviously like the tour and promote this record as much as I can, for as long as I can, before we hit the studio again for the follow up. I'll keep doing what I love and be productive and get out and play and enjoy what I'm doing.
Well, I've known Billy since the early '90s, since the early days of The Almighty actually. Billy and Ian [Astbury] came to see us play at the Marquee right back even before we put the first record out. Billy and Ian came down and we've been mates ever since. He's a bit like myself; he spends a lot of time in LA, and a lot of time over in the UK, and whenever he's over, we'll get together, we'll hang out, and we'll meet up. So he's a mate, and it just happened that he was in LA when we're doing a record. I've been trying to get him on a solo record for ages, so the timing aligned, and he was up for doing it. So it was brilliant, because he's such an iconic guitar player, so it was amazing to have him on there.
How did your involvement with Circus Diablo come about?
The Circus Diablo thing was one of those things where I'd just moved to LA, and I'd literally just landed, and I'd known Billy Duffy and Billy Morrison from my time living in London, and of course, I'm in LA, and I'm looking for some friends as I'm in a new country, a new city, so I reached out to Billy Morrison, and we were just chatting, and next thing I know, we're in Billy's home studio, and Billy Duffy calls around, and we're jamming on these riffs and ideas, and then, lo and behold, suddenly there's a whole album.
As of March 2025, Wikipedia says that the band is technically still active.
I mean, it's funny, I actually, just at the end of last year, was working on some stuff with Billy Morrison. Billy Morrison is obviously incredibly busy with his art, and he's just got a solo record that's come out as well and it's doing incredibly well, but we're actually working on some new Circus Diablo ideas. Whether that will come out, I don't know when, if, or whatever, but we've been demoing a few song; me, Billy and Brett Scallions from Fuel. So we've been dabbling in some ideas. So who knows, it might see the light of day. I think it's always a bit hasty as an artist - and I've learned that from experience - to draw a line under anything, because you never know when you might need it again. The Almighty is a case in point; you go; "that's it, we're done, we're never playing again", but people change, and perspectives change, and things change, and people change their minds as humans do, so I always think it's a bit silly to go; "that's it, I'm never doing that again. I'm done", because you just never know.
On that note, on social media you have recently teased that The Almighty are in the studio again.
We were in the studio for two days doing a track, and that will be revealed very soon, what that is, and what that's for. That was lovely, and it went very well, and you never know, it might lead to something else, who knows?
The Almighty are finally returning to Belfast for a live show in November; how does that feel?
We played the Rosetta bar way back in the day, and I think we've done the Mandela a couple of times over the years, but we never headlined the Ulster Hall. We did open for Def Leppard there when the band briefly got back together at the start of the century, and so although The Almighty have played Belfast four or five times, this will definitely be the biggest show the band's done in Belfast. Obviously playing the Ulster Hall, personally, for me, is a huge, huge deal.
The first two Almighty albums were reissued on colour vinyl in 2023; have you any plans to follow with the rest of the catalogue?
Yeah, it's just contractual, you know? It's just trying to get through all the contracts and the licensing deals and getting them reissued, and that takes time. There's a lot of work involved in that. I think people don't realise how difficult that is. When you're going back some thirty years, contracts go missing; people can't find them, and getting clearance, it's all; who owns what? Who owns the rights to what? It's a bit of a minefield, but we're getting there, and I'd love to get them all reissued. I think that's the plan, and that's certainly what we're working on. It just takes a bit of time.
Do you collect your own vinyl? Do you own all your Almighty albums?
As I've got older, I've kind of replenished the Almighty stock. I mean, it was one of those things where when an album came, the record company would give you a ton of stuff, and people would come around your house and go; "oh, is that your new album?", and I'd be like; "just take it. I'll get another one", and then you never would, and then, before you know it, suddenly you've got only three albums of your career there, because everybody's helped themselves. But I actually went through a phase of a few years ago of actually buying back loads of all my stuff on eBay, so I've pretty much got everything now that we put out, because I just think it's important to have and maybe one day hand it down to my kids. They might want to, or they might want to put it back up on eBay. Who knows?
Did you have conversations with the sellers? Did they know it was you?
No, no, nobody twigged, because I did it through my wife's account, so nobody sussed it out. It was nice.
What has the Almighty reunion meant to you, personally, to be standing once again on the stage with those guys?
I think it's lovely. It's lovely that we're all still here, and we're all still well and healthy. Floyd and Stumpy, I can trace back to when I first moved to Scotland from Northern Ireland and my first day at school. I met them at the first day of school in Scotland, and that was way back in 1980, so they've been my buddies for 45 years. So take the Almighty and music equation out, and they're lifelong friends that I'm still with. We're still making noise together and still playing to a lot of people, and I think that's testimony to them and to the band and to what we stood for. Sadly, a lot of people that worked for us are no longer with us, and I think we remember that every time we get together, the fact that the four of us are still here, and we're strong. It's just nice, and we're having a laugh doing it, and it's good fun.
What's the status of Thin Lizzy and Black Star riders right now?
The status of Black Star Riders is that we're on a hiatus. How long that will be? I don't know. I would certainly like to think we'll do some more shows at some point quite soon. Recording wise, I don't know. I'm not sure, not really feeling it. I'm putting everything into the solo stuff at the minute, but you never know. Certainly show-wise, I'd like to think we'll be doing something again quite soon.
Lizzy, that's Scott [Gorham]'s call. I can't really speak speak for Scott on that. When Scott wants to do something and he wants me to be involved, I will absolutely be there with bells on, but I know he's enjoying doing his art, and playing golf and being Scott Gorham, taking it a bit easy at the minute. He's earned every right to do that.
Back to the new album, and your stepdaughter has designed to sleeve. That must be very special for you.
That was lovely. I've always loved her artwork, and when I got the title together for the album, I just thought it would be great to get Zoe, my stepdaughter, to do something for it. I sent her the album title and a few ideas, and she pinged that back to me, and I just went; "you've nailed it. This is fantastic". So it was real, real proud moment, and lovely that she's involved.
You've got a busy year ahead with solo dates, the album, and The Almighty doing dates; is there anything we don't know about?
I'm just keeping busy. I'd obviously like the tour and promote this record as much as I can, for as long as I can, before we hit the studio again for the follow up. I'll keep doing what I love and be productive and get out and play and enjoy what I'm doing.
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