Rock legends line up to pay homage to Rory Gallagher in TV doc

TWENTY-nine years ago this month, rock and blues icon Rory Gallagher passed away at the tragically young age of 47.

In the intervening years, this trail-blazing Cork musician’s star has only shone brighter in the music galaxy, and his influence continues to shape music, and particularly the work of guitarists around the world.

Rory’s remarkable legacy is remembered in a documentary, Rory Gallagher: Calling Card, on RTÉ1 on Bank Holiday Monday, June 3, at 6.30pm.

The programme features rare, never-before-seen archive and interviews with Rory’s closest friends and family, as they remember the great man, whose hits included Tattoo’d Lady, Bullfrog Blues, and Bad Penny.

We also hear from musical legends in awe of Rory, such as Johnny Marr, Brian May and Bob Geldof, in a definitive portrait of one of the greatest musicians ever to emerge from Ireland.

Rory Gallagher was the original Irish guitar hero, who was born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, in 1948. His family moved to Cork in 1956, and Rory attended North Monastery School.

His artistry with a battered ’61 Stratocaster became the stuff of legend.

Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters admired him, the Rolling Stones tried to hire him – and his fans worshipped him.

Clad in faded denim and a checked shirt, he sold 30 million records and became a charismatic icon of Irish music, inspiring musicians such as Brian May of Queen, The Edge of U2, Slash from Guns N Roses, and Johnny Marr of The Smiths.

But away from the stage, Rory was an intensely private man. His closest confidante was his brother Dónal, who accompanied Rory on his rise from their childhood Everly Brothers stage performances and the showband scene across the North and South of the Irish border, through to the deafening heart of the 1970s rock scene in London – and far beyond.

From playing bomb-shattered Belfast at the height of the Troubles, to touring across America with everyone from Blind Faith to KISS, Dónal was at Rory’s side to witness his greatest triumphs and, after all too brief a span of years, his decline into illness and a tragically early death following acute liver problems.

Now, Dónal, along with insights from Rory’s friends and admirers, takes us on a musical journey through the life and career of this shy guitar hero to better understand what made him so great.