Nicky Moore – a former vocalist for heavy metal outfit Samson and hard-rockers Mammoth, as well as the frontman of his own project, Nicky Moore And The Blues Corporation – has died at the age of 75.

His passing was announced on Wednesday (August 3) through a statement made on the musician’s official Facebook page. It read: “It is with immense sadness and almost unbearably heavy hearts that we have to let you all know that Nicky – a man larger than life in body and spirit – has sadly passed away this morning. A man that lived a thousand lifetimes in just one has decided he needed a rest. Rest well, dear friend. We will all miss you.”

At the time of writing, no official cause of death has been verified by those linked to Moore. According to Louder, however, the artist suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, and spent the last years of his life in a nursing home.

Moore’s career began in the late ‘60s, when he formed the bluesy hard-rock outfit Hackensack. He went on to sing for Tiger in the mid-1970s, before being recruited into Samson – filling the gap left by Bruce Dickinson, who’d left to front Iron Maiden – in 1981. His first stint with the band lasted three years, during which time they released two albums: 1982’s ‘Before The Storm’ and 1984’s ‘Don’t Get Mad, Get Even’.

Moore left Samson shortly after the release of the latter album, but re-joined for a brief time in 1986, when he sung on that year’s ‘Joint Forces’ record. He’d link up with the band one final time in 2000, performing with them until the band broke up for good in 2002 (after the death of longstanding guitarist, and the band’s namesake, Paul Samson).

After leaving Samson the first time, Moore went on to front hard-rock outfit Mammoth, recording two albums with them – 1989’s self-titled affair and 1997’s belated ‘XXXL’ – before moving on to the bands Mister Big Stuff and From Behind. 

In the mid-‘90s, he formed Nicky Moore And The Blues Corporation, with whom he released a total of seven albums (the most recent being 2006’s ‘Hog On A Log’). In 2000, that band was voted the ‘Top Live Blues Band’ in a listener poll held by BBC Radio 2.

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