Robert William Gary Moore

Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011) was a rock guitarist from Northern Ireland.

Beginning in the 1960s, Moore played with Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teenage years, leading him to memberships of the Irish bands Skid Row and Thin Lizzy, and British band Colosseum II. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock musicians as B.B. King, Albert King, John Mayall, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins, George Harrison and Greg Lake, as well as having a solo career.

Moore grew up on Castleview Road opposite Stormont Parliament Buildings, off the Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast, as one of five children of Bobby, a promoter, and Winnie, a housewife. He left the city as a teenager, because of troubles in his family – his parents parted a year later – just as The Troubleswere starting in Northern Ireland.

Moore picked up a battered acoustic guitar at the age of ten. He started performing at a young age, making his live debut in a school band, during the intermission of one of his father's promoted shows. Before getting his first quality guitar (a Fender Telecaster) at the age of 14, and learning to play the right-handed instrument in the standard way, despite being left-handed.

In 1968, after performing with a number of Belfast based bands, Gary Moore, at the age of 16, was "headhunted" as the replacement guitarist in the Dublin based band Skid Row and he moved to Dublin. Moore's greatest influence in the early days was English guitarist Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac who was a mentor to Moore when performing in Dublin.

Other early musical influences were artists such as Albert King, Elvis Presley, The Shadows, Buddy Guy and The Beatles. Later, having seen Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in his home town of Belfast, his own style was developing into a blues-rock sound that would be the dominant form of his career in music.

Moore was known for his highly emotional approach to guitar playing. Despite his technical proficiency and mastery of the guitar, he stood out through his phrasing and dynamic control that was mostly influenced by the melodic blues.

Moore was very popular in Europe, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Japan, but less successful in the US. Throughout his career, Moore was recognised as an influence by many notable guitarists including Martin Barre, Vivian Campbell, Patrick Rondat, John Norum, Paul Gilbert, Gus G, Slash, Orianthi, Joe Bonamassa, Adrian Smith, Phil Collen, George Lynch, Doug Aldrich, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, Randy Rhoads, John Sykes, Henrik Freischlader, Janick Gers, Gary W Suede, and Kirk Hammett.

Since his death, many fellow musicians have commented on Gary Moore's talents including Ozzy Osbourne, Kirk Hammett, Eric Singer, Doug Aldrich, Tony Iommi, Bob Geldof, Roger Taylor, Brian May, Brian Downey, Andy DiGelsomina, Ricky Warwick, Glenn Hughes, Bryan Adams, Henry Rollins, Scott Gorham, Ignacio Garay,and Mikael Åkerfeldt. On 18 April 2011, a number of musicians including Eric Bell and Brian Downey, Thunder rising, Silverbird and The Business blues band gathered for a tribute concert in Whelan's bar in Dublin, Ireland titled 'The Gig For Gary'.

In March 2011 Guitarist produced a tribute special with unreleased footage from 2009. Twitter was flooded with tributes from fans for several days after his death.

A large statue of Moore was erected on a small island outside Skånevik, following his many performances at the Skånevik Blues Festival. The statue still stands as of July 2013.

In April 2017 Henrik Freischlader released a tribute album titled Blues For Gary featuring Pete Rees and Vic Martin.

Jack Moore performed a tribute on his guitar, that had belonged to his father, along side Danny Young in the form of a music video around the anniversary of his father's birthday, in April 2017. The song was named Phoenix, which was written and performed by both Jack Moore and Danny Young.