GARRY MOORE

  Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952– 6 February 2011), better known simply as Gary Moore, was a musician from Belfast, Northern Ireland, best recognized as a blues rock guitarist and singer.

  In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teens, leading him to membership with the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King,Colosseum II, Greg Lake and Skid Row (not to be confused with the heavy metal band of the same name), as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" fromTraveling Wilburys Vol. 3.

 Moore died of a suspected heart attackin his hotel room while on holiday in Estepona, Spain, in February 2011.

Solo career

 Moore released his first solo album in 1973, Grinding Stone (billed as "the Gary Moore Band"). In 1978 his solo career continued with help from Phil Lynott. The combination of Moore's blues-based guitar and Lynott's voice produced "Parisienne Walkways", which reached the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart in April 1979 and the Thin Lizzy album Black Rose: A Rock Legend which reached number two in the UK album chart. Moore appears in the videos for Waiting for an Alibi and Do Anything You Want To.

  In 1987, he collaborated on the UK charity record "Let It Be", a cover of the Beatles track. He performed a guitar solo for inclusion on the recording, which was released under the group-name of 'Ferry Aid'. The record raised substantial funds for the survivors of the MS Herald of Free Enterprise disaster.

 In 1993, he was included on a cassette called Rock Classics Vol. 1 with "Run to Your Mama", and "Dark Side of the Moog".

 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. The album was well received by fans. He stayed with the blues format until 1997, when he decided to experiment with modern dance beats on Dark Days in Paradise; this left many fans, as well as the music press, confused. He also contributed guitar sections to Richard Blackwood's 2000 album, You'll Love to Hate This.

 With Back to the Blues, Moore return to his tried and tested blues format in 2001: he continued with this style on Power of the Blues (2004), Old New Ballads Blues (2006), Close As You Get (2007) and Bad For You Baby (2008).

 In January 2005, Moore joined the One World Project, which recorded a song for the 2004 Asian Tsunami relief effort. The group featured Russell Watson, Boy George, Steve Winwood, Barry Gibb, Brian Wilson, Cliff Richard, Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Robin Gibb on vocals (in their order of appearance), and featured a guitar solo by Moore. The song, entitled "Grief Never Grows Old", was released in February 2005, reaching #4 on the UK Singles Chart.

 In what has been described as "a brave and principled stand", Gary declared his support for the cultural boycott of Israel. At a press conference in Russia he announced that he would not visit the ‘criminal state’ of Israel ‘because of its racist policies against the Palestinian people’.

 He also took part in a comedy skit entitled "The Easy Guitar Book Sketch" with comedian Rowland Rivron and fellow British musicians Mark Knopfler, Lemmyfrom Motorhead, Mark King from Level 42, and David Gilmour.