Scotty Moore, longtime guitarist and friend to Elvis Presley, passed away Tuesday (June 28th) at his home in Nashville at the age of 84.
Commercial Appeal first reported and confirmed Moore’s death, stating that the guitarist had been in poor health in the past several months. No official cause of death has been released.
“We lost one of the finest people I have ever met today,” Sun Studio engineer Matt Ross-Spang wrote on Instagram. “I was lucky to call you a friend and I’m very glad I got to see you just a few days ago. The guitarist that changed the world … especially mine; I hope you don’t mind if I keep stealing your licks. Love you Scotty.”
Moore was born in Gadsden, Tennessee, where he began his musical interest at a young age. In 1954, after the guitarist moved to Memphis, Sun Records’ Sam Phillips paired him with a young Elvis Presley where they later formed Blue Moon Boys. The duo recorded Presley’s first single “That’s All Right (Mama)” together, which went on to become one of their biggest hits.
“I heard that Sam Phillips had a little studio and record label and I went to see him about getting a record out,” Moore told Rolling Stone in 2010. “I knew that if we could make a record, we’d get more places to play around town. Sam agreed to record us and he and I became good friends. Then one day we were having coffee, and his secretary actually brought up Elvis’ name. He had dropped by the studio with the hope of recording something. So Sam said, ‘Call this guy up and get him to go over to your house and see what you think of him.’ So he came to my house on the Fourth of July. It was kind of a pre-audition.”
Moore – who has worked with other artists, such as Ringo Starr, Carl Perkin and more – was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is survived by his five children (Donald, Linda, Andrea, Vikki Hein, and Tasha) and several grandchildren.
