Samson lead singer and heavy metal pioneer Nicky Moore has died (pictured above, far left). He was 75.
Moore’s death was confirmed on his official Facebook page, which said he died on Wednesday morning. According to rock website Louder, he had been living with Parkinson’s Disease.
“It is with immense sadness and almost unbearably heavy hearts that we have to let you all know that Nicky – a man larger than life in body and spirit – has sadly passed away this morning,” the statement reads. “A man that lived a thousand lifetimes in just one has decided he needed a rest. Rest well, dear friend. We will all miss you x”
Moore was born in Devon, U.K. on June 21, 1947. He began his musical career as a choirboy before moving to rock and eventually heavy metal. He co-founded early 1970s band Hackensack before moving to Tiger and, most famously, joining Samson as its lead singer in 1981. Moore replaced Bruce Dickinson, who had left the band to join Iron Maiden.
By the late 1980s Moore had also left the band, before rejoining the following decade. In the 1990s he also formed another band, Nicky Moore and the Blues Corporation, who were voted the best live blues band by BBC Radio 2 listeners in 2000.
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Alongside his own music, Moore worked as a vocal coach and in 1998 he appeared in the BBC docu-soup “Lakesiders” showcasing his vocal work. He also wrote jingles and did voice-over work for brands including the BBC.
The singer famously once performed a gig following a car crash, in which he sustained two broken ribs. “People pay money to come and see you, you don’t let them down, and if there’s a possible way I can sing whether it be with two broken ribs or an arm falling off, or whether I’ve got flu or whatever – if I can sing I will not let them down,” he said in an interview. “I think people have known that for years – you can count the amount of gigs I’ve had to miss on one hand over the last few years. I’ve tried as hard as I can to make it.”
Among those who paid tribute to the singer were director Jonas Akerlund, who posted on Instagram “R I P” alongside a photo of Moore at the Marquee Club in London in 1982 with Dickinson and Frederick Melander of the Swedish black metal band Bathory.
Moore is survived by his wife Maggie, his daughter Mandy and his sons Steve, Chris, Nick Jr and Timmy.
