Gary Moore - 2008

Robert William Gary Moore…born on 4 April 1952 in Belfast , was a Northern Irish musician, most widely recognised as a blues singer and guitarist.
Moore grew up on Castleview Road opposite Stormont’s Parliament Buildings, off the Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast, as one of five children of a promoter named Bobby and housewife, Winnie, but he left the city as a teenager.
Moore started performing at a young age, having picked up a battered acoustic guitar when he was eight years old. He got his first quality guitar at the age of 14, learning to play the right-handed instrument in the standard way despite being left-handed.
He moved to Dublin in 1968 at the age of 16. His early musical influences were artists such as Albert King, Elvis Presley, The Shadows, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. His own style was developing into a blues-rock sound that would be the dominant form throughout his career. Moore’s greatest influence in the early days was guitarist Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac who was a mentor to Moore when performing in Dublin.
He relocated to England in 1970 and remained there, apart from two short periods in America.
Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teens, leading him to memberships with the Irish bands Skid Row and Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, George Harrison and Greg Lake, as well as having a successful solo career.
Moore released his first solo album in 1973, Grinding Stone.  In 1978 the combination of Moore’s blues-based guitar and Phil Lynott’s voice produced “Parisienne Walkways”, which reached the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart in April 1979.
While less popular in the US, Moore’s work brought substantial acclaim and commercial success in most other parts of the world – especially in Europe.
Throughout his career, Moore was recognised as an influence by many notable guitarists including Vivian Campbell,   Paul Gilbert, Slash,  Joe Bonamassa,  Randy Rhoads, John Sykes and many others.
He collaborated with a broad range of artists including, George Harrison,  Travelling Wilburys, Albert Collins,  Jack Bruce,  B.B. King, Bob Dylan,  Cozy Powell, Rod Argent, the Beach Boys, Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Emerson, Roger Daltrey, Albert King and Andrew Lloyd Webber on the composer’s
He experimented with many musical genres, including rock, jazz, blues, country, electric blues, hard rock and heavy metal.
After a series of rock records, Moore returned to blues music with Still Got the Blues, with contributions from Albert King, Albert Collins and George Harrison.
As Moore returned to his tried and tested blues format in 2001: he continued with this style of expression in that genre through to his final album…Bad For You Baby…released in 2008
Moore died of a massive heart attack, during the early hours of February  6 2011. Moore was laid to rest in St Margaret’s Churchyard, Rottingdean, East Sussex,  which is close to Brighton.

Source: Wikipedia