Bruce's first band was called Styx. This was in Sheffield in 1976. The band was looking for a singer and Bruce overheard guitarist Robert Hodgson and Paul Widdicombe discussing this in the classroom. It later turned out that drummer Paul Bray had actrually gone to the same school as Bruce previously.

They played mostly covers and rehearsals usually took place in Hodgson's bedroom with Bruce's mic plugged into a cassette recorder. The band was originally called Paradox but Bruce never liked the name and they were subsequently renamed Styx, totally unaware of the successful American band with the same name.

They did a few live gigs and the story of how they awoke a sleeping factory worker when playing at the Broad Fall Tavern in Sheffield has been retold in numerous publications.