Hair metal — that dreaded colloquialism for the commercial, party-hearty hard rock that dominated the airwaves in the '80s — is known for its hotshot guitar players and over-the-top showmanship.

And there were no ballads. In fact ... those bands have been separated as "hair bands" instead of heavy metal. Heavy metal ...

Guitarist John Sykes, who played with the rock bands Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy, has died at 65. He helped compose one of the defining power ballads of the late-1980s hair-metal scene in “Is This ...