Gary Moore

Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music, including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz fusion.

Influenced by Peter Green and Eric Clapton, Moore began his career in the late 1960s when he joined Skid Row, with whom he released two albums. After Moore left the group, he joined Thin Lizzy, featuring his former Skid Row bandmate and frequent collaborator Phil Lynott. Moore began his solo career in the 1970s and achieved major success with 1979's "Parisienne Walkways", which is considered his signature song. During the 1980s, he transitioned to playing hard rock and heavy metal, achieving varying degrees of international success. In 1990, he returned to his roots with Still Got the Blues, which became his most successful album. Moore continued to release new music throughout his later career, collaborating with other artists from time to time. He died on 6 February 2011 from a heart attack while on holiday in Spain.

Moore was often described as a virtuoso and has been cited as an influence by many other guitar players. He was voted as one of the greatest guitarists of all time on respective lists by Total Guitar and Louder. Irish singer-songwriter Bob Geldof said that "without question, was one of the great Irish bluesmen". For most of his career, Moore was heavily associated with Peter Green's famed 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar. Moore was honoured by Heritage, Gibson and Fender with several signature model guitars.

Robert William Gary Moore was born in Belfast on 4 April 1952, the son of Winnie, a housewife, and Robert Moore, a promoter who ran the Queen's Hall ballroom in Holywood a few miles east of Belfast. The younger Robert grew up near Stormont Estate in Ballymiscaw with his four siblings. He sang "Sugartime" after his father invited him onstage to sing with a showband at an event that his father had organised. This first sparked the younger Robert's interest in music, and he credits his father with starting him in music by allowing him to perform. The older Robert bought his son his first guitar, a second-hand Framus acoustic, when Moore was 10 years old.

Though left-handed, the younger Robert learned to play the instrument right-handed. Not long after, he formed his first band, The Beat Boys, who mainly performed Beatles songs. He later joined Platform Three and The Method, amongst others. Around this time, he befriended guitarist Rory Gallagher, who often performed at the same venues as him. He left Belfast for Dublin in 1968 just as The Troubles were beginning in Northern Ireland. A year later, his parents separated.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.