The celebrated actor/guitar slinger tells us about attending his very first Styx show as a teenager and why he loves “Renegade.”

by Mike Mettler, resident Styxologist 

Sutherland photos by Mumpi Kuenster 

Styx have many millions of fans all across the globe and from all walks of life, of course, but sometimes their peers and fellow Superstars in the entertainment business like to chime in to testify their love of the band as well. Take Kiefer Sutherland, for example. “I just have the deepest, deepest respect for those guys,” Sutherland told me recently while we were discussing the fine pack of personal gutbucket songs that populate his second solo album, April 2019’s Reckless & Me (BMG). 

Sutherland, best known for his portrayal of the iconic, star-crossed rebel CTU agent Jack Bauer for over a decade on the serial real-time spy thriller 24 (the show many could argue as being the catalyst for the binge-watching phenomenon) in addition to his current incarnation as President Tom Kirkman on Designated Survivor (which will be streaming its entire third season on Netflix starting June 7), actually has music chops that run quite deep. For one thing, he began playing violin at age 4 and has been strumming guitars ever since he was a teenager, eventually blossoming into quite the insightful songwriter. “I have found that being able to write through some of the difficult times or experiences, or even some of the more beautiful times and experiences, helps you gain a kind of perspective,” Sutherland admits. “And because I never had a diary, these songs were the best way for me to do that.” 

Sutherland also has another connection to Styx by way of his best friend and longtime songwriting/producing partner Jude Cole, who had our very own Tommy Shaw sing background vocals on his quite underrated 1992 solo album, Start the Car, alongside a few other Styx family friends, including Jack Blades (of Night Ranger, Damn Yankees, and Shaw Blades fame) and Canadian vocalist Sass Jordan. For his part, Cole sang background vocals on Styx’s February 2003 studio album, Cyclorama. In addition to writing and touring with Sutherland, Cole’s other impressive production/songwriting credits include Lifehouse, Rocco DeLuca & The Burden, and Lindsay Pagano. 

In a Styxworld exclusive, Sutherland, 52, talks about attending his first Styx show as a teenager, why he gravitates toward Tommy Shaw’s songwriting the most, and why he loves “Renegade.”