Styx Deny Playing ‘Mr Roboto’ to Satisfy Concert Promoters
Styx are refuting the claim made by former lead singer Dennis DeYoung that they only added their 1983 hit "Mr. Roboto" to their current set list because promoters "demanded it." They've issued a statement that echoes guitarist James "J.Y." Young's original line that they're playing it due to years of fans requesting it.
Through their management, they told Billboard that "we have not had any promoters suggest that Styx play 'Mr. Roboto' at all and promoters had nothing to do with the band adding the song to the set. The band did know that some fans did want to hear 'Roboto' and over the years they have added many songs to the Styx set that had not been being played."
In the same story, DeYoung repeated his belief that the promoters got involved. "They had gotten so many complaints from the fans that the guys weren't playing the hits because they leave out 'Mr. Roboto,' 'Babe,' 'Don't Let It End' and 'Show Me the Way' and 'The Best of Times,'" DeYoung, who wrote all of those songs, said. "The fan base is not interested in parsing it down to who did what; They're just digging the music and want to hear all the hits."
Although it took Styx 35 years to bring the polarizing Kilroy Was Here hit back into their show, DeYoung has had a different approach in his solo shows. "Listen, I play 'Mr. Roboto' at every show and people go mental," DeYoung continued. "They love it because it's insinuated itself somehow into the culture, which is beyond my comprehension because when I wrote the thing it was never intended to be a single. But if I could write four more of those tomorrow, I'm doing it."