- Music
- 07 Feb 11
The rock 'n' roll fraternity have been paying tribute to the guitarist.
The tributes have been pouring in for guitar legend Gary Moore who passed away yesterday while holidaying in Spain.
Talking to BBC Radio 5, Bob Geldof said: "He is one of the great blues players. Axl Rose will say that without Thin Lizzy you don't get Guns N' Roses, and that whole idea of rock and roll, and Gary was sort of fundamental in developing that twin-guitar, lyrical thing like on ‘Parisian Walkway’.
"But really you didn't have to cut the skin hard to find just a great, great blues player, and absolutely one of the best.”
Also speaking to the BBC, Eric Bell said: "I used to see him quite regularly up until about a year ago, he was a very robust guy, he was off all drugs and he only had a few Guinness's with me, so he was a pretty healthy bloke. I met him when he was 11 years of age, I saw him playing one night and we became friends. He had incredible enthusiasm for music, great energy, very dedicated musician, he just lived for music.
“He was just as an amazing guitar player and a superb musician, he was just his energy that got me, his enthusiasm for the instrument was remarkable. He had a feel for it, it can sort of get that way, like you are fighting against all odds, it's just you and the guitar against the world really, that was what it was like in the early days for myself and Gary and he won through."
On to Hot Press straight away was B.P. Fallon who says: “I’m saddened and shocked. Gary was a friend ever since he came down to Dublin to join Skid Row. He was an amazing guitarist even then, talented beyond his 15 or 16 years. George Harrison once told me: 'Gary Moore makes me sound like a skiffler'. His music – with Thin Lizzy and with Phil Lynott, with The Traveling Wilburys and with BB King via Colosseum and his own bands – was and is something very special. God Bless Gary Moore.”
In official statements on the Thin Lizzy website, Brian Downey states: "I am in total shock. I have known Gary since 1967 when he was in Platform Three and he's been an amazing friend ever since. It was a pleasure to play with Gary again in 2006 after his days with Lizzy. He will always be in my thoughts and prayers and I just can't believe he is gone”, with Scott Gorham adding: "Playing with Gary during the Black Rose era was a great experience, he was a great player and a great guy. I will miss him."