Vinnie Moore

Vincent "Vinnie" Moore (born April 14, 1964) is an American guitarist and a member of the British hard rock band UFO.[2] Moore is one of the most influential and important guitarists to emerge from the virtuoso boom in the mid to late eighties.[1]

Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Vincent Moore
Born	April 14, 1964 New Castle, Delaware, United States
Genres	Neoclassical metal, hard rock, heavy metal, Progressive rock, Progressive metal, instrumental rock[1]
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboard
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Shrapnel
Associated acts	UFO, Alice Cooper, Vicious Rumors, Red Zone Rider
Website	vinniemoore.com

Vinnie Moore in a concert with UFO in Cercemaggiore

Vinnie Moore playing in Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2010

Biography

Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware, only a couple of miles from fellow musicians George Thorogood (and The Delaware Destroyers). He began his professional career at age 12 after receiving a guitar as a Christmas present. During a 2018 interview, Moore stated, "I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was like 12, basically just because I saw a picture of a guitar in a catalog, a JCPenney's catalog.  I thought, 'Hey that looks pretty cool.  I want that.'  That was my motivation at the time, and I got it for Christmas, and really didn't bother with it a whole lot.  Then, I started taking lessons for the next year.  Then I really started to get obsessed with it."R.Y.A.N. - Season 2, Episode 5: Vinnie Moore During that same interview, Moore was asked who his earliest teachers were, and he stated, "The first teacher was Mary Biddle, and I studied for a year with her, just some basic lessons at the local music shop.  After about a year, I had advanced, and she referred me to another guy named Nick Bucci, who was a great player in my local area.  He was studying jazz guitar with Pat Martino, and was also a rock guy, and he just taught me a lot of stuff; theory, and exercises, and all different kinds of stuff to make me become a better player and musician."R.Y.A.N. - Season 2, Episode 5: Vinnie Moore Moore played clubs and bars until Shrapnel executive Mike Varney discovered him via a demo and bio that Vinnie submitted to the Spotlight column, which Varney headed for Guitar Player Magazine. His connection to Varney led to an opportunity to appear in a Pepsi commercial in 1985[3] (only Vinnie's hands appeared in the commercial as his guitar playing is heard).[2][4] Following this, Moore recorded his first solo album, Mind's Eye (1986), released on Shrapnel Records and featuring Tony MacAlpine on keyboards. The album received several awards from guitar magazines and sold over 100,000 copies.

Vinnie Moore played lead guitar with the heavy metal band Vicious Rumors on their debut album, Soldiers of the Night (1985). The album features Moore's solo-song "Invader", which was in the style of Van Halen's "Eruption". The shred guitar craze of the late eighties led to more releases for Shrapnel. Moore also began performing with other hard rock and heavy metal bands.

Moore joined Alice Cooper's band for a tour and then appeared on the Hey Stoopid (1991) album.[5] Moore released two instructional videos on guitar playing.[6][7]

Moore has been the lead guitarist for UFO since June 2003, releasing his first studio album with them You Are Here the following year in 2004. This has been followed by The Monkey Puzzle (2006), The Visitor (2009), Seven Deadly (2012) and A Conspiracy of Stars (2015).

On August 5, 2013, Moore came on stage to perform live with Peter Frampton on Frampton's Guitar Circus concert at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Moore is playing guitar on Red Zone Rider's debut album Red Zone Rider released September 16, 2014.[2]

Equipment

Moore is currently endorsed by Dean guitars, with whom he has several signature models. Prior to his endorsement with Dean, he used guitars made by various other brands over the years including Ibanez and Fender, most notably the Talon model that was manufactured by Heartfield, one of Fender's sub brands. Moore also currently uses ENGL amplifiers and DiMarzio pickups.

Discography

Discography

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Sales
		US [8]
Mind's Eye	Released: 1986 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, CS, LP, DL[9]	–	US: 6,719+[10]
Time Odyssey	Released: 1988 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, LP	147	US: 12,101+[10]
Meltdown	Released: 1991 Label: Relativity Formats: CD, CS, LP	–	US: 49,661+[10]
Out of Nowhere	Released: April 16, 1996 Label: Mayhem Formats: CD	–	US: 6,777+[10]
The Maze	Released: March 23, 1999 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL[11]	–	US: 5,852+[10]
Defying Gravity	Released: July 10, 2001 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL[12]	–
To the Core	Released: May 26, 2009 Label: Mascot Formats: CD, DL[13]	–
Aerial Visions	Released: October 23, 2015 Label: Mind's Eye Music Formats: Digital, CD	–
Soul Shifter	Released: October 4, 2019 Label: Mind's Eye Music Formats: Digital, CD	–
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
Collection: The Shrapnel Years	Released: March 14, 2006 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL[14]

Live albums

Title	Album details
Live!	Released: January 25, 2000 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL[15]

Instructional videos

Title	Album details
Advanced Lead Guitar Techniques	Released: 1987 Label: Hot Licks Formats: VHS
Speed, Accuracy, & Articulation	Released: 1989 Label: Hot Licks Formats: VHS

Other appearances

Title	Year	Notes
Vicious Rumors – Soldiers of the Night	1985	band member
Alice Cooper – Hey Stoopid	1991	band member
UFO – You Are Here	2004	band member
Jordan Rudess – Rhythm of Time	2004	guest
UFO – Showtime	2005	band member
UFO – The Monkey Puzzle	2006	band member
Destruction – D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.	2008	guest
Michael Angelo Batio – Hands Without Shadows 2 – Voices	2009	guest
UFO – The Visitor	2009	band member
Glen Drover – Metalusion	2011	guest
UFO – Seven Deadly	2012	band member
Red Zone Rider – Red Zone Rider	2014	band member
UFO – A Conspiracy of Stars	2015	band member

References

1. Vinnie Moore. "Vinnie Moore | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
2. "Vinnie Moore Interview". Guitarhoo!. Guitarhoo.com. December 15, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
3. "80's Pepsi Commercial". YouTube. April 6, 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
4. "Vinnie Moore". Vinnie Moore. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
5. Archived March 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
6. "Vinnie Moore". Vinnie Moore. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
7. "Vinnie Moore". Vinnie Moore. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
8. "Vinnie Moore - Chart history | Billboard". billboard.com. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
9. "Mind's Eye by Vinnie Moore" – via music.apple.com.
10. "Sludge Scan As of January 16, 2000". www.metalsludge.tv. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
11. "The Maze by Vinnie Moore" – via music.apple.com.
12. "Defying Gravity by Vinnie Moore" – via music.apple.com.
13. "To the Core by Vinnie Moore" – via music.apple.com.
14. "The Shrapnel Years by Vinnie Moore" – via music.apple.com.
15. "Vinnie Moore (Live) by Vinnie Moore" – via music.apple.com.

External links

• Vinnie Moore's Official Web Site