Authorized by and written with the full cooperation of the musician’s estate, and featuring in-depth analysis of his instruments and equipment, Harry Shapiro’s Gary Moore: The Official Biography is set for publication on September 27 via Jawbone Press and is described as the definitive biography of the Northern Irish guitar hero.
Gary Moore delighted entire generations with his passionate guitar playing, from the driving rock of Thin Lizzy in the 1970s to his explorations in subsequent decades of jazz fusion, heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, and more.
Throughout that time, he could be seen on the world’s biggest stages, yet the real Gary Moore was always hidden in plain sight, giving little away. Now, however, through extensive and revealing interviews with family members, friends and fellow musicians — including Ian Paice, Sharon Osbourne, Greg Lake, Glenn Hughes and members of Thin Lizzy — acclaimed rock biographer Harry Shapiro is able to take readers right to the heart of Gary’s life and career.
Despite his early death in 2011, Moore still has legions of devoted fans across the world who will be enthralled by this unique insight into the life of a guitar genius who did it his way, and whose music lives on. Beginning with Gary as a teenage guitar prodigy in war-torn Ireland and continuing through the many highs and lows of more than forty years in rock, Shapiro paints an intimate portrait of a musician widely hailed as one of the greatest Irish bluesmen of all time.
Moore enjoyed a spectacular career with bands such as Skid Row, Thin Lizzy and G-Force, and predominately as a solo artist during which time he effortlessly switched from heavy rock to blues, taking his denim-clad fans along for what would be a hugely successful journey. Moore’s guitar mastery saw him collaborate with stars like B.B. King and Albert King, Peter Green, Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton.
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett said: “Gary Moore is definitely in my list of top five guitar influences, right up there with Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Michael Schenker. He just blew me away from the first time I heard him.”
Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell stated: “He was a huge guitar influence. I probably ripped off Gary Moore more than any other guitar player.”
Harry Shapiro is a music writer and journalist. His biography Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy was nominated for the Ralph J Gleason Music Book Award, while Waiting For The Man: The Story Of Drugs And Popular Music was voted best music book of the twentieth century by the BBC Millennium web site. Jack Bruce: Composing Himself was published by Jawbone in 2010. His other books include biographies of Eric Clapton, Alexis Korner and Graham Bond.
Listen to the best of Gary Moore on Apple Music and Spotify.