'Come Sail Away' charted at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and, 40 years later, is still one of the band's signature songs.įormed in Chicago in 1972, Styx borrows its name from a mythological river that forms the boundary between Earth and the underworld.

It sold more than three million copies and set the stage for a run of four consecutive multi-platinum albums and 16 top-40 singles in the US.

Powered by the tremendous success of 'Come Sail Away,' Grand Illusion became the band's breakthrough album. Up until that point, the band was an opening act, never the headliner. He was hoping that 'Come Sail Away' and the Grand Illusion album would turn their luck around. Styx had achieved commercial success with 1973's 'Lady,' but then fell flat with its next two albums, Equinox (1975) and Crystal Ball (1976). The lead singer revealed years later that he wrote the song to provide some inspiration to 'carry on' during a down time in his life. Today, Styx lead singer Dennis DeYoung searches for a pot of gold in the classic 1977 hit, 'Come Sail Away.'Īn inspirational song about following one's dreams no matter how challenging the journey may be, 'Come Sail Away' starts as a sweet ballad and then transitions into a powerful rock and roll anthem.ĭeYoung sings, 'We live happily forever so the story goes / But somehow we missed out on that pot of gold / But we'll try best that we can to carry on.' Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you classic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics.

Dennis deyoung styx band