Welcome to the world of Gary Moore a virtuoso guitarist, singer, and songwriter whose music continues to captivate audiences worldwide. With a career spanning several decades, Moore left an indelible mark on the realm of blues and rock. Born in Northern Ireland in 1952, his journey through the music scene took him from the heights of fame with bands like Thin Lizzy to a revered solo career, marked by his distinctive blend of soulful blues licks and fiery rock riffs.
Throughout his life, Gary Moore’s music spoke volumes, resonating with listeners on profound emotional levels. Whether through searing guitar solos or heartfelt lyrics, his songs often delved into themes of love, loss, and the human experience. Moore’s prowess as a guitarist was matched only by his ability to convey raw emotion, making each performance a journey through the depths of the soul. His influence extends far beyond his own recordings, inspiring generations of musicians to pick up the guitar and explore the boundaries of musical expression.
Below, you’ll find a collection of Gary Moore’s most memorable quotes insights into his creative process, reflections on life, and glimpses into the passion that fueled his music. Feel free to copy these quotes, pair them with images, or unleash your creativity by enhancing them with stylish fonts. Let the words of Gary Moore serve as a source of inspiration and a testament to the enduring power of music.
Like a lot of the newer bands, like the more poppy kinda bands, although they make really good records and they produce them really great and everything, they don’t really deliver onstage. And I think that’s where like the heavier bands kinda score. Gary Moore
I think a good guitar solo sounds so much better within the context of a good song. Gary Moore
These guitar institutes and things like that, I think they take away people’s identity and they’re actually encouraging a lot of people to play who are not naturally good players anyway, but they’re telling people that anyone can learn to play. Gary Moore
I found reading musical notation frightfully boring. Gary Moore
I’ve been listening to a lot of dance, hip-hop, drum-and-bass, reggae, R&B – very rhythmical music. Gary Moore
I usually don’t go into record stores to buy folk music. Gary Moore
I always loved the Yardbirds when I was a kid, you know; I was always into Jeff Beck and everything. Gary Moore
As time has gone on I’ve felt less and less need to play too many notes. That’s something you do when you’re younger, you play far too much and too fast. Gary Moore
When I’m playing I get completely lost in it and I’m not even aware of what I’m doing with my face – I’m just playing. Gary Moore
I mean, if you go to a rock gig and someone plays a ballad it can still really come across, even though there’s a hundred thousand people there. Gary Moore
There was a great blues scene in Belfast during the late ’60s. Gary Moore
A lot of guitar players, in every genre, are afraid to leave space. They’re afraid to leave a hole, afraid they’ll fall down it or something. Gary Moore
I came in touch with music at an early age. My father was a show band promoter, who took me along as a little nipper of five and put me up on the stage with the musicians to sing. Gary Moore
Most musicians make the same record every time, and that’s fine. But the people I respected when I was growing up, like Jeff Beck – they weren’t afraid to try something new. Gary Moore
At some point the label ‘hard-rocker’ began to get on my nerves, and I decided to break those chains. My music definitely doesn’t sound like AC/DC or the Scorpions – nothing against either of these bands, they’re okay. But I was fed up with that image. Gary Moore
Whenever I was in the dressing room on my own, I’d start playing blues to myself. One night, Bob Daisley, the bass player, came in and said, ‘You know, Gary, you should make a blues album next. It might be the biggest thing you ever did.’ I laughed. He laughed, too. But I did, and he was right, and it was. Gary Moore
I didn’t actually start to play till I was about 10. My father came home from work a Friday and he said: ‘Would you like to learn to play the guitar?’ I said: ‘Yeah! I’d love to try!’ But I didn’t think for one moment that I’d be able to do it. Gary Moore
We’re losing the whole point: music is not to impress people, music has to stand up on its own and guitar solos are nothing to do with it. Gary Moore
The idea of being 45 years old and wearing spandex just doesn’t happen for me, you know? Gary Moore
Heavy metal to me is this cartoon idiom where people have their hair stuck-up all over the place dyed blonde with black roots showing through and Spandex trousers and chains around their neck, eating raw meat on stage. It just doesn’t mean anything to me. Gary Moore
I’m not as a studied, technically, as you might think. My technique has really evolved naturally over the years from watching other guitarists and trying to develop my own style. Gary Moore
I didn’t want to end up in Hollywood having facelifts and my hair dyed blond so I could appear on my own album cover. Gary Moore
I’m not one of those people who get emotional. Gary Moore
When I was about 14, I went to see Cream play. I thought they were the best band in the world. Gary Moore
I think all my albums have concentrated on songs, I’ve never taken the typical Van Halen route to try and become a guitar hero. Gary Moore
Most of the bands that come out of L.A. now have singers that all sound like Daffy Duck. Gary Moore
I don’t wanna play like that anymore: Widdle, widdle, widdle, up and down the neck as fast as possible. Gary Moore
I’ve always thought of music in the long term. I’ve always tried to write songs that people could listen to a couple of years later and maybe longer. Gary Moore
I think that a lot of people are going so wrong by analysing music too much and learning from a totally different perspective from the way I learned. I mean, I just learned by listening to people. People I learned from learned by listening to people. Gary Moore
I drove my Mum crazy, because I wouldn’t go out and play football or join the Boy Scouts, I’d just sit at home and play the guitar. Gary Moore
I remember seeing The Who at the Top Hat. Gary Moore
When we came to America before, we opened shows in arenas for groups like Rush. It’s always been a case of playing for 45 minutes for someone else’s audience. Gary Moore
I don’t like concert-halls where everyone is sitting down and it’s all very formal. Gary Moore
Irish music makes you want to get up and jump around. Gary Moore
I really want to concentrate of the blues again and do it properly, which is something I feel I didn’t do before. Gary Moore
Whatever I do, whether it sells or not, at least I mean it at the time and I’m honest about it. Which I think is the only way to be. Gary Moore
The first time I saw Peter Green play was at the Club Rado, which was a very rough club in Belfast, and at that time he’d just replaced Eric in the Bluesbreakers. I’d gone up there to sort of hang out and see if I could meet this guy Peter Green, because I’d read about him and everything. Gary Moore
I learnt fairly quickly that that was what I wanted to be – a guitarist – because it was the first thing I ever done in my life that really felt like it was something that I belonged to. I don’t know… from the moment I picked it up it felt right. Gary Moore
The blues needs to be everything to you, otherwise it’s not going to come across. That’s what I think. Gary Moore
Obviously I don’t play the same way as Peter, but I could do a passable imitation of Peter Green; if you gave me a guitar I could sit here and probably get closer than anybody else. Gary Moore
When you get into the habit of leaving a space, you become a much better player for it. If you’ve got an expressive style, and can express your emotions through your guitar, and you’ve got a great tone, it creates a lot of tension for the audience. It’s all down to the feel thing. Gary Moore
I wasn’t really worrying too much about what anybody thought: if you do that you shut yourself down. Gary Moore
My father was responsible for me starting in music. He’s always stood behind me. Gary Moore
If you take a long time over a record, you end up making something different from what you intended. Gary Moore
Songs that are just a vehicle for a guitar solo are very empty, just an excuse for a guitarist to show what scales he practiced last month. Gary Moore
I always think it would be great to play clubs again, and then when I do I don’t like it because I just feel sometimes it’s a bit too intimate. Gary Moore
I sang a song called ‘Sugar Time.’ That was it. I had the bug. Gary Moore
I did play with Dr. Strangely Strange a couple of years ago – that difficult third album, ‘Alternative Medicine,’ 1997. It was great to see them all. They’re very special people and they were very good to me in Dublin in the 1960s. Gary Moore
The rhythmic feel of ‘Dark Days In Paradise’ is completely different to anything I’ve ever done before. There’s a lot of drum loops on there, but used in conjunction with real drums: a lot of influence from hip-hop and dance music, with the keyboard sound and sequencing. Gary Moore
