“Rory was in a state of shock and couldn’t bring himself to step on stage. Afterwards he said, ‘It was lovely, but never do this to me again’”: That time Rory Gallagher got crippling stage fright because he was performing in front of his guitar hero

Rory Gallagher is one of the most influential guitar heroes of all time, having wielded his legendary 1961 Fender Stratocaster – and a host of other electric guitars – to carve his name into the annals of blues rock history.

But, as is usually the case with most high-profile guitar players, Gallagher had some heroes of his own, and at one point actually crossed paths with one at a gig – and he was so phased by the unexpected interaction that he was almost too shocked to go on stage.

In a new interview with Guitarist, Gallagher’s brother, Donal, recalled the time he secretly invited Lonnie Donegan to see Rory play at London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of a surprise Christmas present.

It all began in December 1975, when drummer Rod de’Ath bought himself a new kit. The individual who brought it over let slip that he played with Donegan whenever he was in town, which gave Donal – who knew his brother idolized the blues/folk/country icon – a brilliant idea.

Rory Gallagher - Tattoo'd Lady (Live At The Cork Opera House, Ireland / 1987) - YouTube

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“I went, ‘Oh my God, where is Lonnie now?’ Because he’d kind of gone off the radar quite a bit,” Donal recalls. “And he said, ‘Well, he’s in town as it happens.’ So I said, ‘Would you ask him along tonight?’

“He took me down to a pay phone at the back and he dialled the number, put the sixpence or shilling in, and just literally handed me the phone,” he continues. “So it was a cold call to Lonnie Donegan.

“Lonnie came on the line and I explained how much Rory and I admired him and told him that Rory was playing the Albert Hall that evening and, despite the short notice, would he consider coming to the gig.

“He said, ‘Well, look, if you meet me at the stage door I’ll come – but I don’t want any messing around getting in and all that,’ and I said, ‘I’ll be there.’”

True to his word, Donegan showed up to the gig, and even entertained Donal when he asked whether he would say a few words to introduce Rory before he took to the stage.

“I went on and introduced Lonnie Donegan and explained how Rory was one of his biggest fans and he was such an inspiration to Rory and the crowd took to their feet and gave him a very warm reception, and Lonnie came on and said a couple of words and introduced Rory.”

“Rory, of course, had absolutely no idea that any of this was going to happen, and was so taken aback when he saw his hero introducing him to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall that he simply froze.

“I was looking around to see where Rory was but there was no Rory,” Donal goes on. “Normally, he came on like a bullet, straight across the stage, in his usual form. The band had come on, but no Rory: most unusual. But, in fact, Rory was in a state of shock and couldn’t bring himself to step on stage!

“Afterwards he said, ‘It was lovely, but never do this to me again.’ He’d actually got stage fright because he was performing in front of one of his heroes.”