Rory Gallagher

Although he never really broke through, Ireland's Rory Gallagher is still admired by other top guitarists such as Brian May, Slash and Joe Bonamassa.

Rory Gallagher was born in 1948 and grew up in the Irish town of Kork. He became hooked on music at a young age, with Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly as his first heroes. This also explains why his own sound later leaned so heavily on a mix of rock, folk, and blues. At ^age 9, he received his first guitar. In the latter half of the 1960s, he formed the band Taste, a power trio modeled on the band he admired, Cream, the band of guitar god Eric Clapton.

After releasing several fairly successful albums with that band, he decided in 1970 to pursue a career under his own name. An excellent move, as evidenced by the album "Rory Gallagher," released in 1971, on which Rory Gallagher made a significant impression as a singer, guitarist, and composer. However good his subsequent studio albums were, his true strength lay on stage. His image as a hardworking, down-to-earth guy who lives for his guitar and music earned him countless loyal fans.

His strength in those days is superbly captured on classic live albums like "Live In Europe" (1972) and "Irish Tour '74" (1974). The latter album, in particular, makes a deep impression, as it was recorded during a period when his homeland was being torn apart by bloody attacks. Many of his colleagues chose to stay safe at home, but Rory Gallagher felt it was precisely in these turbulent times that he should spread the message of brotherhood through music.

In the second half of the 1970s, his music increasingly veered toward pure hard rock, as can be heard on albums like Calling Card (1976), Photo-Finish (1978), Top Priority (1979), and his third live album, Stage Struck (1980). His productivity declined somewhat in the 1980s, but he continued to tour tirelessly. In the following decade, his lifestyle began to take its toll. Complications from a liver transplant ultimately proved fatal in 1995.

Since then, his reputation has endured thanks to reissues of his old albums on CD and LP, and albums filled with previously unreleased material like "Notes From San Francisco" (2011) and "Blues" (2019). Although he never broke through to a million-dollar audience or scored a global hit, Rory Gallagher's playing remains widely cherished. This is evident from the fact that his name still pops up in "best guitarist polls" and regularly features in interviews with guitar legends and admirers like Slash of Guns N' Roses, Brian May of Queen, Joe Bonamassa, and Janick Gers of Iron Maiden.

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