A birthday present nearly tore Styx apart. Throughout the 1970s, the American rock group had built its reputation on elaborate progressive rock. But when keyboardist and singer Dennis DeYoung wrote a soft ballad called "Babe" for his wife Suzanne, he set the band on a collision course with its own identity. Styx released Cornerstone on October 19, 1979.
From private demo to album centerpiece
The song began as a private gesture. DeYoung recorded a demo of "Babe" with only bassist Chuck Panozzo and drummer John Panozzo, never intending it for the group. Executives at A&M Records heard the tape and insisted the track belong on Cornerstone, the band's ninth studio album. Guitarist Tommy Shaw was brought in to add a solo to the middle section, and the intimate demo became the album's centerpiece.
Released on 19 October 1979, Cornerstone became Styx's first top-five album in the United States, climbing to the second spot on the Billboard chart. "Babe" did even better: it became the band's only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's success confirmed what DeYoung had been pushing toward — a cleaner, more pop-friendly sound, a sharp turn away from the progressive rock of the group's first eight records.
Shaw objects to a second ballad
That shift did not sit well with everyone. Tommy Shaw had his own ideas about where Styx should go, and he watched the ballad's triumph with unease. When DeYoung proposed releasing another slow song, "First Time," as the follow-up single, Shaw objected hard. He feared two ballads in a row would alienate the hard-rock fans who had supported the band, and he threatened to quit.
The argument escalated until DeYoung was briefly fired from Styx, then asked back before the news reached the press. The group compromised: instead of "First Time," they released "Why Me," an energetic DeYoung track that still carried a pop punch. The tension was real, and it marked the first open split in the band's artistic vision — DeYoung pulling toward pop, Shaw and guitarist James Young pulling toward rock.
Shaw and Young's competing tracks
Shaw's own contribution pointed in a different direction. His folk-rock song "Boat on the River" became a major hit in Europe even though it never charted in the United States, proof that the band could reach audiences without surrendering to pure pop. Young, meanwhile, got only one song on the album: "Eddie," a hard rocker aimed at left-leaning politician Edward Kennedy, urging him not to run for president.
The album's credits tell the story of a band already dividing its creative territory. DeYoung and Shaw each wrote or co-wrote five tracks, sharing two collaborations. The lineup still included the Panozzo brothers on bass and drums, with DeYoung on vocals and keyboards, Shaw on guitars and mandolin, and Young on guitars. Saxophonist Steve Eisen added a solo to "Why Me," one of the touches that gave the record its warmer, more organic sound.
Cornerstone sold in the millions and earned Styx their first Grammy nomination, for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. But the compromise behind it did not last. The disagreements that surfaced during the album deepened over the next few years, and by 1983, after the album Kilroy Was Here, Styx had fallen apart.
A song written as a birthday gift had given the band its biggest hit and opened a wound it could not close. DeYoung got his pop direction, Shaw and Young kept their rock credibility, and for one album the tension produced a commercial peak. It also set the clock running on the end of the group.
A song written as a birthday gift had given the band its biggest hit and opened a wound it could not close.