Gary Moore was a guitar prodigy who was mentored in his teens by Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac. Green gave Moore his 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar after he left Fleetwood Mac. In Dublin, Moore joined the group Skid Row with Noel Bridgeman and Brendan “Brush” Shiels. It was with this group that he earned a reputation in the music industry, and his association with Phil Lynott began. Moore went on to play with Lynott and Thin Lizzy for a time before going solo, achieving limited commercial success but huge critical acclaim.

His most evocative work is Parisienne Walkways which he wrote in 1979. Moore died of a heart attack in 2011. Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake and Palmer said of Moore. “He played the blues, but he chose that as a career. In truth, the spirit of Gary Moore is Irish. That was not the music he played professionally. But when you hear him play an Irish jig or a ballad, it would break your heart.”

Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock musicians as B.B. King, Albert King, Jack Bruce, Albert Collins, George Harrison, and Greg Lake, as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high-profile musicians.

Gary Moore died of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 58 during the early hours of 6 February 2011. At the time, he was on holiday with a girlfriend at the Kempinski Hotel in Estepona, Spain.

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