Nicky Moore, the singer who took Bruce Dickinson’s place in the UK metal band Samson, has died at the age of 75. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and lived out his last days in a nursing home.
Moore took over Dickinson’s spot in 1981 after the latter left to join Iron Maiden. Moore would record three studio albums with Samson before he departed in 1986: Before the Storm (1982), Don’t Get Mad, Get Even (1984), and Joint Forces (1986).
A much larger man than Dickinson, Moore — who had previously sang for British bands Hackensack and Tiger — brought a bluesier vocal delivery that steered Samson in a different direction. Shifting from the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” sound of the first three albums, Before the Storm introduced a more AOR/hard rock edge, with Moore’s voice matching the slick guitarwork of band mastermind Paul Samson (who passed away in 2002).
Moore would exit Samson in 1986 to form the British hard rock act Mammoth. The group would release its self-titled debut in 1989 before swiftly breaking up (a reunion album XXXL was released in 1998).
A prolific writer and singer, Moore would then front From Behind (featuring recently deceased former Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton) in the early 2000s and sang with former Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth in Electric Sun. Moore also had two solo projects: the Nicky Moore Band and Nicky Moore & the Blues Corporation.
Samson and Moore would reunite in 2000 for a series of live performances, appearing at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany and recording a live album, Live in London 2000.
Revisit Samson’s performance with Moore at Wacken below.