If you know guitar, you know Gary Moore, the under-the-radar guitarist who has achieved most of his fame overseas but remains idolized in the States among those in the guitar know.

Moore was born in 1952 in Belfast, Ireland, where he discovered blues-rock legend Eric Clapton, psychedelic rocker Jimi Hendrix and his biggest influence of all, Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac. Moore moved to Dublin and joined local rock outfit Skid Row (the band featured singer Phil Lynott who would later take up bass and form Thin Lizzy). Without Lynott the band continued to rehearse and landed a spot opening for Moore's idols, Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac. Green was so impressed with Skid Row that he requested Fleetwood Mac's manager help the fledgling group get a record contract with CBS. Green also sold Moore one of his favorite guitars and the maple 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard would become Moore's signature instrument.

Skid Row released several singles and albums, such as Skid (1970) and 34 Hours (1971), supported by a string of European and U.S. tours, but Moore left the group in 1972 when it failed to be the commercial success he had hoped for. Moore formed the Gary Moore Band with drummer Pearse Kelly and bassist John Curtis in which he served both as vocalist and guitarist. The band proved to be short-lived, disbanding shortly after the unsuccessful 1973 album Grinding Stone. Moore reunited with ex-bandmate Lynott in his outfit Thin Lizzy but was only featured on a few on the band's songs. Moore secured studio work, briefly played with Colosseum II and issued a few solo records in the interim. In 1990 Moore released Still Got the Blues and finally achieved the critical and commercial success worthy of his talent; subsequent albums continued to expose Moore's fiery guitar.