RICKY Warwick enjoyed huge international success with heavy metal band The Almighty — but ever since he picked up a guitar as a raw teenage talent in Belfast, the Irish singer songwriter has been on a musical mission of discovery.

For several years he has been touring with the reconstituted Thin Lizzy, celebrating the life and music of the band’s late leader, Phil Lynott.

It was an opportunity for Warwick to live the dream by filling his boyhood hero’s shoes, alongside surviving Thin Lizzy members, guitarist Scott Gorham, drummer Brian Downey and keyboardist Darren Wharton.

“I lived on the edge of Belfast during the Troubles and it was normal to hear bombs going off, to see the Army on the streets; and it wasn’t a city you were allowed to go into at night,” he recalled.

“My two older sisters were into Rory Gallagher, Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy.

“From the age of 10, I watched Top of the Pops every Thursday.

“I saw Thin Lizzy perform and I thought, ‘If they can do it, maybe I can do it.

“It starts you dreaming and for me the dream came true in an unbelievable way.

“I’m 48 now and I never take a moment for granted because every time I get up on stage I still have the same burning passion for music I had when I was a kid.”

Warwick talks enthusiastically on the telephone from Los Angeles, now his family home, and admits he is still influenced by those early years in Belfast.

“I remember sneaking into Belfast to see Stiff Little Fingers play the Ulster Hall when I was 14, and it changed my life,” he recalled.

“SLF are still my favourite band because they gave me a voice and fired my emotions.

“They gave a bored teenager something important to listen to and believe in.

“The power of the sound in that hall that night still influences what I do today.”

Warwick, who has supported rock giants Iron Maiden, Metallica, Alice Cooper and Megadeth, and who has also enjoyed a successful solo career, added: “In 2011, SLF invited me to their Ulster Hall gig and at the end of the show, and out of the blue, asked me to sing on the encore, Alternative Ulster.

“It was an honour and a privilege and a moment I will always treasure.

“Jake Burns always joked that song should be the national anthem and I agree with him.”

Warwick added: “It is amazing to see what has happened in Northern Ireland, the great progress made through the peace process.

“Belfast has transformed itself and nobody wants a return to the dark days of the past, except a few idiots and nobody cares about them.

“The people want a lasting peace now.”

A couple of years ago, Thin Lizzy announced they would not be recording any new material under the Thin Lizzy moniker, and the last incarnation of the project formed Warwick’s new band Black Star Riders, who play Preston’s 53 Degrees next month.

“I’m really proud of the new stuff we’ve done with Black Stars, and of course we’ll be playing the Thin Lizzy classics like Jailbreak and Whiskey in the Jar,” added Warwick.

“There was a time about six or seven years ago when I stopped writing songs altogether and I can honestly say it was the worst period in my life.

“I think people like me just have to keep on writing and performing.

“It’s what we do and I’m incredibly fortunate.”

Black Star Riders, Tax The Heat and Monster Jaw, Preston 53 Degrees, August 4. £22.50