Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Scotty Moore dies at 84

Scotty Moore, the longtime guitarist for Elvis Presley and one of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists, died Tuesday at his home in Nashville. He was 84, and had been in poor health.

Moore started playing the guitar at age 8, and after moving to Memphis in the 1950s, was asked by Sam Phillips of Sun Records to play on Presley's first single, "That's All Right (Mama)." Presley was just a teenager at the time, and after the single was successful, Moore, bassist Bill Black, and drummer D.J. Fontana founded the Blue Moon Boys, a band that backed Presley on such hits as "Heartbreak Hotel," "Hound Dog," "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Jailhouse Rock." The band also appeared in four of Presley's movies — Jailhouse Rock, Loving You, King Creole, and G.I. Blues.

Moore worked with several other musicians, including Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards. Richards once said: "When I heard 'Heartbreak Hotel,' I knew what I wanted to do in life. It was as plain as day. All I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis; I wanted to be Scotty." In 2000, Moore was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with other sidemen who "spent their careers out of the spotlight."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up