Some (but not enough) rock fans know John Sykes cowrote and played guitar on Whitesnake hits like “Still Of The Night” and “Is This Love.” Some are aware of his prior stint with Thin Lizzy. Far fewer fans know Sykes, whose death last year at age 65 from cancer was recently made public, once auditioned for Guns N’ Roses.

As rock insider Eddie Trunk said Jan. 21 on his SiriusXM show: “When Guns was in the pre-reunion [of Axl with Slash and Duff McKagan] mode, when they were using [DJ] Ashba and Bumblefoot [on guitar] and all those guys, Sykes went in and auditioned.”

In 2021 on guitar podcast Tone-Talk, current Guns N’ Roses guitarist Richard Fortus recalled Sykes’ audition, which took place around 2009. “We auditioned a bunch of people, and John Sykes was incredible,” Fortus said.

According to Fortus, then-GN’R bassist Tommy Stinton, formerly of punk band The Replacements, was less than enthused about the guy from Whitesnake in Guns N’ Roses, a band known for gritty hits like “Welcome to the Jungle.”

But, according to Fortus, GN’R’s tour manager said, “It’s John Sykes, man. He learned the songs. The least you can do is listen to him.” Stinson reluctantly agreed. Sykes’ audition took place without Rose present, common for GN’R auditions.

“So we go in the room,” Fortus recalled, “and within two minutes, Tommy is looking over at me, like, ‘Oh my God!’ He just killed it. Our jaws were on the ground, for sure.”

Trunk noted John Sykes “is not a household name. But in the musician community, a massive name and a massively respected name.” Since his death was made public Jan. 20, guitar-legends like Slash, Zakk Wylde and Steve Vai have mourned the loss. As did former bandmates including Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale.

Before joining Thin Lizzy around 1982, Sykes played with Tygers of Pan Tang, part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement that also included bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard. The Berkshire, England native’s guitar heroes included Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore and Thin Lizzy’s Gary Moore.

Around 1984, Whitesnake brought in Sykes to redo guitars on the U.S version of their album “Slide It In.” That album became the band’s U.S. toehold, with hits like the title track and “Slow an’ Easy.” Sykes joined Coverdale’s band. His writing and playing are all over Whitesnake’s next album. Released in 1987, the self-titled LP’s sold more than 8 million copies in the U.S.

But after the ‘87 album was recorded, Coverdale fired Sykes and other musicians who’d played on the album. As it goes with musical breakups, there are different sides and stories to this one, too.

Soon, videos for ‘87 Whitesnake songs like “Still Of The Night” and a slick remake of the band’s 1982 song “Here I Go Again” were all over MTV. Sykes and the other fired Whitesnake musicians were credited in the album’s liner notes. But far fewer fans read liner notes than watched MTV. Besides Coverdale, the band in those big Whitesnake videos wasn’t on the record. An asterisk being Adrian Vandenberg, who played the guitar solo on the new “Here I Go Again.”

As a result, Sykes didn’t get the credit he deserved. “And that is a pivotal point in the John Sykes story,” Trunk said. “In my opinion, John never recovered from that.”

After his Whitesnake ouster, Sykes formed supergroup trio Blue Murder, with Vanilla Fudge/Rod Stewart drummer Vinnie Appice and bassist Tony Franklin, formerly of Jimmy Page/Paul Rodgers supergroup The Firm.

Amony ‘80 rock afficionados, Blue Murder’s debut album is now a classic. But arriving in 1989, the 11th hour before ‘90s grunge hit, the timing wasn’t great. Blue Murder never broke big.

For the rest of Sykes’ career, “John was super disillusioned with the music industry,” Trunk said. “A lot of it going back to 1987 … He didn’t trust anyone or anything.” Still, Trunk said of Sykes’ passing, “I loved him and I’m a massive fan and this is a massive loss.”

Sykes went on to release five solo albums, including strong live effort “Bad Boy Live!” in 2004. But for much of his later life, one of hard-rock’s great guitarists remained largely inactive and reclusive, a la White Lion legend Vito Bratta and ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee.

Which makes the prospect of Sykes joining Guns N’ Roses the year after “Chinese Democracy” dropped even more fascinating. Unfortunately he didn’t get the GN’R gig.

GN’R’s Richard Fortus said, “John’s reputation does precede him. But I personally got along great with him, and I kept in contact with him. Actually, I kept in contact with him pretty regularly until I got the Thin Lizzy [touring] gig and then he didn’t call me anymore. [Laughs] But I thought he was great.”