• Writer: Tommy Shaw
• Producers: Styx and Barry Mraz
• Released: Summer 1978
• Players:
  Tommy Shaw — vocals, guitar
  Dennis DeYoung — keyboards, vocals
  James “J.Y.” Young — guitar, vocals
  Chuck Panozzo — bass
  John Panozzo — drums
• Album: Pieces Of Eight (A&M, 1978)
• Also On:
  Classics (A&M, 1987)
  Greatest Hits (A&M, 1995)
  Come Sail Away: The Styx Anthology (A&M, 2004)
  and other live albums and compilations
• One of the hardest rocking hits in Styx‘s catalog, “Renegade” peaked at Number 16 on the pop chart in 1979.
• While singer-keyboardist Dennis DeYoung was responsible for most of Styx’s songs, “Renegade” was written and sung by guitarist Tommy Shaw, who joined the group in 1976 to replace John Curulewski. Shaw also wrote the hits “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” and “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights).”
• “Renegade” was originally the B-side of “Sing For The Day,” which peaked at Number 41. Radio stations convinced the record company to start promoting “Renegade” as a single in its own right.
• Like its predecessor, 1977’s The Grand Illusion, the Pieces Of Eight album hit Number Six on the album chart and sold three million copies.
• During this period, a Gallup poll revealed that Styx was the most popular band among 13- to 19-year-olds in the U.S.

FAST FORWARD:

• Styx broke up in 1984 and reunited in 1990, without Shaw. The group reunited again, with Shaw, in 1995 and has toured and recorded since.
• Singer-keyboardist Dennis DeYoung was forced off the road by a mysterious illness in 1998, and Shaw and Young decided to continue on without him. DeYoung sued his former bandmates, and they remain estranged.
• Shaw has recorded solo and has worked in the band Damn Yankees and as a duo with Yankees partner and Night Ranger singer-bassist Jack Blades.
• DeYoung and singer-guitarist James “J.Y.” Young have also released solo albums over the years.
• Drummer John Panozzo died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage in 1996, at age 47.
• Bassist Chuck Panozzo gave up his full-time duties with Styx in 1998, though he still makes some concert appearances with the band. After acknowledging his sexuality and health status, Panozzo is now active in the AIDS and HIV-positive communities.