A string swashbuckler, the legend that both The Rolling Stones and Deep Purple wanted but couldn’t get; the one and only Rory Gallagher.
This summer, on Friday 19th June, The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork will be released as a live album and a film, capturing Bonamassa’s deeply personal tribute to Gallagher for all to hear and watch.
Rory Gallagher’s music has been part of Joe Bonamassa’s life since childhood, and the weight of performing it in Cork, with the blessing of the Gallagher family and in front of audiences who carry his legacy so personally, was something he felt immediately. “I never had the honour to meet him, but his music and musicianship loom large in my life,” Bonamassa writes in a personal foreword accompanying the release. “From my first time hearing Irish Tour ’74 I was captivated by the sheer intensity of the man and the ferocity of his approach to the electric blues.
“I remember that voice and a singular guitar tone slicing through the walls of my bedroom at a very young age,” Bonamassa recalled. “My father, who exposed me to so many of the great guitarists of his era, was quick to encourage me to listen to Rory and glean what I could.”
What began as an invitation from the Gallagher family quickly became something much larger. “All these many years later I was asked by Rory’s family to consider performing some of his material and paying tribute to him at a venue in Cork,” he writes. “The very thought frightened me. Yes, I was scared to even attempt it but at the same time so honoured that his family felt that I might be up to the task.” Rather than try to reinvent the material, Bonamassa focused on meeting it with the right spirit. “I felt the very best I could hope for was to approach his catalogue with humility and reverence.”
In 2024, Bonamassa travelled to Cork to announce the tribute with a small introductory performance for the Gallagher family, local friends, and members of the press. The response was immediate and emotional, and what began as a single concert soon expanded into a three night stand. “After the announcement, one show turned into three sold out shows,” Bonamassa writes. “I felt that my reputation was on the line with the Irish, but what a response!”
By the time the band returned in 2025, the atmosphere around the performances had only intensified. “This was Rory’s town, and Rory’s people. We weren’t going to let them down,” Bonamassa said. “The crowds on those three nights were rowdy, raucous and Cork did their favourite son proud.” The result, we are told, is a live document that feels charged by that setting; deeply felt, high wire, and rooted in the connection between artist, audience, and place.
Across 14 hand picked songs, The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork moves through the many sides of Gallagher’s catalogue, each delivered with fire and conviction while honouring the shape and soul of the originals.
The release also captures several moments that carried special meaning across the Cork run, including Bonamassa’s performance of ‘As The Crow Flies’ on Gallagher’s own 1930 National Triolian resonator guitar, loaned by the Cork Public Museum. It was a tangible connection to the artist whose presence still looms so large over the city and over generations of guitar players who followed him.
Additional footage, included on DVD and Blu-ray editions, expands the story with bonus material including The Inspiration of Rory, featuring conversations with Brian May and Slash, along with Rory’s Acoustic Guitar and Ballycotton: A Million Miles Away. Together, the audio and visual components offer a fuller picture of what these performances meant to Bonamassa, to Gallagher’s family, and to the fans who packed the room night after night.
In the end, Bonamassa sees the album as an offering; his band’s best attempt to honour a musician whose work helped shape his own. “What you hear on these recordings is our best effort to pay tribute to Rory Gallagher, a man I never met, but admire so deeply,” he writes. “His music is part of me and I’m grateful that we were able to contribute in some small way to his ongoing legacy.”
Available in a variety of formats, songs captured across the recordings are: ‘Cradle Rock (Live)’, ‘Walk On Hot Coals (Live)’, ‘Tattoo’d Lady (Live)’, ‘I Wonder Who (Live)’, ‘Calling Card (Live)’, ‘Who’s That Coming? (Live)’, ‘Messin’ With The Kid (Live)’, ‘Bullfrog Blues (Live)’, ‘Treat Her Right (Live)’, ‘Bad Penny (Live)’, ‘I Fall Apart (Live)’, ‘A Million Miles Away (Live)’, ‘As The Crow Flies (Live)’ and ‘Back On My Stompin’ Ground (Live)’. The album can be ordered through J&R Adventures.
Already out are three live singles from The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork: ‘Bullfrog Blues (Live)’ avoids comparison to Gallagher’s raucous renditions, favouring a more rollicking version wherein the piano playing happily tips its hat to Jerry Lee Lewis; some sweet slide gently paves the way on a sideways shuffling ‘Who’s That Coming? (Live)’, while on ‘Walk On Hot Coals (Live)’ you can literally feel the torch being passed on as Bonamassa delivers this epic in fine style. You can also check out the live video capturing the performance here at RAMzine.
JOE BONAMASSA UK SPRING TOUR 2026
May 6 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall
May 7 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall
