He is considered one of the greatest "British Blues" guitarists of all time, alongside Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Peter Green. Here are some interesting facts about Rory Gallagher:
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1. He was born on March 2, 1948 in Ballyshannon, Ireland. His full name is William Rory Gallagher.
2. Rory grew up in a musical home. His father played the accordion in a local band and his mother was a singer and theater actress.
3. At the age of 9 his parents bought him his first acoustic guitar, on which he learned to play on his own.
4. At the age of 12 he had already won a young talent contest. He used the winnings money to buy his first electric guitar.
5. The guitar that is most identified with him is "Fender Stratocaster Sunburst 1961" (serial number 64351), which he purchased only 3 years later.
6. He formed his first band when he was only 13 years old.
7. Gallagher would stay up all night listening to music on the radio, when at first he was attracted to Skiffle music and then Folk and Blues.
8. His early musical influences included Muddy Waters, Woody Gutherie and Lead Belly.
9. In 1966, Gallagher formed the band "Taste", a power trio that played mostly blues-rock and rhythm and blues.
10. In the years 1969-1970 the band released two studio albums and two live albums, before it disbanded.
11. At its peak, the band performed at the Isle of Wight Festival from 1970 and also shared one stage with "Cream" in their farewell performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
12. Immediately after the Woodstock Festival in 1969, Jimi Hendrix was asked “How does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world?” Hendrix replied, “I don’t know, go ask Rory Gallagher.”
13. Rory Gallagher is a multi-instrumentalist in the full sense of the word. In addition to singing and guitar playing, he also plays bass, mandolin, saxophone, sitar, harmonica, banjo, dulcimer, dobro and more.
14. In 1971 Gallagher released his first solo album named "Rory Gallagher".
15. That same year he was chosen Singer of the Year by Melody Maker magazine, even surpassing Eric Clapton.
16. In 1974, Mick Taylor left the "Rolling Stones" and Rory Gallagher spent a few days with them in Rotterdam as a potential replacement.
17. During his solo career, Rory has released 11 studio albums.
18. These albums have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
19. Off-stage, Gallagher was described as shy. On stage, he was one of the most “electrifying” artists to ever play a Fender Stratocaster, with more than three hours of each performances, night after night.
20. Rory Gallagher never married and had no children.
21. Gallagher underwent a liver transplant in 1995, but died of its complications on June 14, 1995 in London, England and is only 47 years old.
22. Rory Gallagher was ranked 42nd on Gibson's all-time top 50 guitarists list.
23. He was ranked 57th on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists.
24. In 2015, Fender produced the "Rory Gallagher Signature Stratocaster" modelת in his memory.
25. The list of musicians influenced by him is long and varied, and includes, among others: The Edge, Slash, Johnny Marr, Janick Gers, James Dean Bradfield, Glenn Tipton, Vivian Campbell, Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa and more.