Rory Gallagher’s name will adorn a studio in the town where he grew up, and a conference room at the headquarters of Fender guitars, on the 20th anniversary of his death.
It’s part of a series of worldwide events called Remember Rory, which take place this weekend to commemorate his passing on June 14, 1995.
The blues-rock icon’s nephew Eoin will perform one of his songs on Cork’s famous Shandon Bells on Friday, while four radio stations broadcast Tattoo’d Lady at the same time. Live music will be performed on Rory Gallagher Plaza while other events are planned across Cork and elsewhere.
His brother and manager Donal tells the Irish Examiner: “His presence is immense. He constantly reoccurs in my dreams – in some ways it doesn’t feel like he’s gone.
“He was such a perfectionist that, when you’re working with his music, you have to be careful you don’t tamper with it. You do feel he is looking over your shoulder.
“I have nightmares where he asks me to play back an album or look at something, and I’m there, waiting for his approval. But we do what we can and I feel he’s smiling down.”
Louis de Paor, director of the Centre For Irish Studies in Galway – who wrote A Poem For Rory Gallagher, says: “I can think of no other musician or artist who gave as much of himself to his audience.”
And Donal has hinted that unheard material by Gallagher’s band Taste could finally be released after being “tied up in red tape” for over 40 years.
