Rory Gallagher Biography

Rory Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon,County of Donegal,Republic of Ireland on March 2, 1948. He bought his first acoustic guitar at age nine and taught himself how to play, winning a local talent show at age 12. He joined the Fontana Show Band (later called The Impact) in 1964 and toured extensively until they disbanded in 1965. In 1966, Rory formed a 3-piece band, Taste, with Eric Kitteringham and Norman Damery, then reformed in 1968 with Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums. They toured extensively in Europe and the US. Their final appearance was at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. Later that year he formed the Rory Gallagher Band originally with Gerry McAvoy and Wilgar Campbell.

Always at his best in live performances, Rory's album "Live! In Europe" went platinum in 1972 and Melody Maker selected him as "Musician of the Year". That year, Rory replaced drummer Wilgar Campbell with Rod De' Ath and added keyboardist, Lou Martin, to the band. In 1977 he made music history by becoming the first ever to perform live in concert at the inaugural german outdoor rock festival, "Rocklife", broadcast on Eurovision television, and transmitted to over one hundred million people in 5 countries.

On June 16, 1995 Rory died from complications following a liver transplant.

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