{"id":23630,"date":"2025-01-27T17:08:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T17:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/?p=23630"},"modified":"2025-01-27T17:10:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T17:10:53","slug":"no-strat-not-too-clever-a-rory-gallagher-statue-has-finally-been-unveiled-in-belfast-but-some-fans-arent-too-happy-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/2025\/01\/27\/no-strat-not-too-clever-a-rory-gallagher-statue-has-finally-been-unveiled-in-belfast-but-some-fans-arent-too-happy-with-it\/","title":{"rendered":"“No Strat? Not too clever”: A Rory Gallagher statue has finally been unveiled in Belfast – but some fans aren’t too happy with it"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rory Gallagher Statue Unveiling – YouTube<\/span>\"Rory<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n

A new statue honoring late electric guitar<\/a> great Rory Gallagher has been unveiled in his \u201csecond home\u201d of Belfast, but it hasn\u2019t gone down particularly well with some of his fans.<\/p>\n

Unveiled by Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Muray and designed by Anto Brennan, Jessica Checkley and David O\u2019Brien of the Bronze Art Ireland, the statue immortalizes a particularly famous pose once struck by Gallagher, which can be seen on the cover of a 1972 issue of Melody Maker.<\/p>\n

On said cover, Gallagher can be seen with a Fender Telecaster<\/a> slung around his shoulders, with his arms aloft onstage mid-gig. It is one of Gallagher\u2019s most enduring images and the statue has rather accurately translated it into statue form, but its final appearance has stirred up some discontent among fans.<\/p>\n

Taking to social media, many fans critiqued the statue\u2019s choice of guitar, owing to the fact that Gallagher was more commonly associated with a Fender Stratocaster<\/a> \u2013 a 1961 Strat, to be precise, which sold at auction recently for $1.16 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Gallagher of course did play a range of guitars throughout his career, including the Telecaster that featured on Melody Maker and that was chosen to accompany the statue. Gibson Les Paul Juniors<\/a> and a Gretsch Corvette<\/a> were just some of the other guitars Gallagher was partial to using.<\/p>\n

\u201cWrong guitar,\u201d wrote one fan, while another lamented, \u201cRory owned a Tele. But his\u2026 STRAT was his iconic trademark.\u201d \u201cNo Strat? Not too clever,\u201d voiced a third.<\/p>\n

But criticisms of the new tribute didn\u2019t just stop at the guitar of choice, though, with others slating the appearance of the statue itself for its apparent dissimilarity to Gallagher himself.<\/p>\n

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To that end, others commenting on the YouTube video of the statue\u2019s unveiling argued it had a \u201cfeminine\u201d appearance, with one likening it to \u201cKim Deal with Bruce Springsteen\u2019s guitar\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who that is supposed to look like but it ain\u2019t Rory Gallagher!\u201d said another. \u201cLooks more like Madonna,\u201d wrote a third.<\/p>\n

Irish musician Thomas Walsh, meanwhile, posted a photo of the statue to Facebook with the caption, \u201cIreland has unveiled its latest statue celebrating the life and career of one of our most beloved rock icons \u2013 KT Tunstall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the negativity surrounding the unveiling, the statue still hopes to honor Gallagher\u2019s memory in a city that has been so profoundly affected by his influence, and stand as a tribute to his legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been many years in the making, and we are incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from fans, fellow musicians, and all those who continue to show their commitment to keeping Rory\u2019s legacy alive,\u201d said Frank Girvan, a member of the Rory Gallagher Statue Project Trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope more people will join us in these efforts, as we continue to celebrate the music and spirit of a man who changed so many lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fitting that the city he loved so much is where his memory will be celebrated for generations to come,\u201d added Donal Gallagher, Rory’s brother and former manager.<\/p>\n

Gallagher died at the age of 47 in 1995. Belfast City Council\u2019s Planning Committee green-lit development of the statue in 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rory Gallagher Statue Unveiling – YouTube Watch On A new statue honoring late electric guitar great Rory Gallagher has been unveiled in his \u201csecond home\u201d of Belfast, but it hasn\u2019t gone down particularly well with some of his fans. Unveiled by Belfast Lord Mayor Micky Muray and designed by Anto Brennan, Jessica Checkley and David […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23632,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23630\/revisions\/23632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}