What Makes Rory Gallagher So Special To You As A Fan?

TLDR: Rory good. Life's good. 😎

I've given this thread a lot of thought. I've had the privilege to see many legendary musicians from various genres during my lifetime. None equal Rory Gallagher. Good musicians and good music come and go and are eventually forgotten. But when Rory's voice and his guitar entered my ears for the very first time 50+ years ago they went straight to some place deep inside my being and took up residence. There has never been a time when listening to Rory did not bring joy to my soul or dancing to my feet. His improvisational solo in Walk on Hot Coals all but changed my DNA. To this day that solo makes all of the chaos in my brain align. (I am certain that an EEG brain function test would prove that claim.) I realize that over the years I've become somewhat of a singer songwriter snob. I find myself using Rory as the benchmark to judge all others by. And while they may be extremely talented, no one comes close to Rory's virtuoso and genius. Rory's character has also been an inspiration for me to do better and be better. His humility as a person is what makes his music so pure and so everlasting. This is what makes Rory so special to me as a fan.

There are many things that make Rory so special. I only saw him once in London in the 70's. I was doing the Aussie working holiday thing and a guy I had met said "do you want to go to a concert". I said Who?. He said Rory Gallagher! And of course I said; who's he; never heard of him. Anyway I went to the concert and was completely blown away by this unassuming guy who seemed to play the guitar so effortlessly and I could see right away he was a really genuine, decent human being. As they say, the rest is history and I have been an avid fan ever since then. I am 69 years old now.

The other thing is that I went to the tribute shows in 2002 and went to Rory's grave to pay my respects. I remember asking a person that was working there if he could tell me where Rory Gallagher's grave was. The guy said; do you mean that singer!. I thought at the time, well, Rory probably would not have worried about that. A special man with a special talent.