Amid Festival Turmoil, Rory Gallagher’s Legacy Lives On Through New Projects, Forthcoming Book
Categoria: Musica
As the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival hangs in the balance, the guitar great’s family is working hard to keep his legacy alive.
Por Billboard | 07/10/2026
While Rory Gallagher fans wait to learn if the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival will survive the disaster that deprived the festival of half its revenue this year due to the collapse of its ticketing service, aficionados of the late guitarist will have the opportunity to look back over his career and music thanks to the imminent release of a book chronicling his musical journey. That book was written by the guitarist’s brother, Donal Gallagher, who was with Rory on every step of his musical journey — first as a roadie, then as the road manager for his touring band and, ultimately, his business manager, sometimes fulfilling all three roles at once. That book is coming out Nov. 25 from Red Stripe Press and is entitled Edged In Blue: A Rock and Roll Odyssey with Rory Gallagher . Related This Remote Irish Music Festival Honors a Guitar Great. It’s At Risk Of Never Happening Again Hilary Duff to Receive Outstanding Pop Tour of the Year Award at 2026 Billboard Live Music Summit Judge Rules Woman Accused of Shooting at Rihanna & A$AP Rocky's Home Mentally Fit to Stand Trial Since the passing of Rory Gallagher in 1995, his brother Donal has continued to protect the music and legacy of the legendary guitarist, as well as managing his estate. Those responsibilities include managing the guitarist’s musical assets, which include his Strange Music publishing, and helping the Universal Music Group’s catalog division UMe to promote his brother’s recorded music catalog. As the guitarist died without a will, his mother was the immediate beneficiary. But with her passing in 2010, Donal Gallagher is now the beneficiary overseeing the estate, aided by two of his four children, Daniel and Eoin. Starting in the late 1960s, Gallagher recorded two studio albums and two live albums with Taste , a band he founded and anchored while writing most of its songs; and, as a solo artist, recorded 11 studio albums and three live albums under his own name before his death, which were released on a variety of record labels. There have also been numerous compilations, live albums and DVDs released in the 30 years since his death, too. “The DVDs help build on Rory’s legacy because newcomers to Gallagher’s music can see Rory’s amazing live performances,” Donal says. Gallagher was fortunate enough to ultimately own all his master recordings and publishing catalogs. But around 2017, Donal Gallagher says he sold the master recordings to UMG because it became too difficult to police and protect Gallagher’s music as streaming came on — especially with the proliferation of Rory’s music placed on digital services without Donal’s knowledge through user-generated content and piracy. How Gallagher came to own his solo master recordings is a story unto itself. As Taste was winding down, at one of the group’s shows in 1970, Donal was unloading the band’s equipment when a big guy offered to help. That stranger turned out to be Pete