Vincent Moore (born April 14, 1964) is an American guitarist and a former member of the British hard rock band UFO.
Biography Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. He began his professional career at age 12 after receiving a guitar as a Christmas present. During a 2018 interview, Moore stated, "I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was like 12, basically just because I saw a picture of a guitar in a catalog, a JCPenney's catalog. I thought, 'Hey that looks pretty cool. I want that.' That was my motivation at the time, and I got it for Christmas, and really didn't bother with it a whole lot. Then, I started taking lessons for the next year. Then I really started to get obsessed with it." During that same interview, Moore was asked who his earliest teachers were, and he stated, "The first teacher was Mary Biddle, and I studied for a year with her, just some basic lessons at the local music shop. After about a year, I had advanced, and she referred me to another guy named Nick Bucci, a great player in my area. He was studying jazz guitar with Pat Martino, and was also a rock guy, and he just taught me a lot of stuff; theory, and exercises, and all different kinds of stuff to make me become a better player and musician." Moore played clubs and bars until Shrapnel executive Mike Varney discovered him via a demo and biography that Moore submitted to the Spotlight column, which Varney headed for Guitar Player. His connection to Varney led to an opportunity to appear in a Pepsi commercial in 1985 (only Vinnie's hands appeared in the commercial as his guitar playing is heard). Following this, Moore recorded his first solo album, Mind's Eye (1986), released on Shrapnel Records and featuring Tony MacAlpine on keyboards. The album received several awards from guitar magazines and sold over 100,000 copies.
Moore played lead guitar with the heavy metal band Vicious Rumors on their debut album, Soldiers of the Night (1985). The album featured Moore's solo-song "Invader", which was in the style of Van Halen's "Eruption". The shred guitar craze of the late 1980s led to more releases for Shrapnel. Moore also began performing with other hard rock and heavy metal bands.
Moore joined Alice Cooper's band for a tour and then appeared on the Hey Stoopid (1991) album. Moore released two instructional videos on guitar playing, in 1987 and 1989.
Moore had been the lead guitarist of UFO for 21 years, joining in June 2003 and remaining until their breakup in April 2024. He performed on six studio albums with the band: You Are Here (2004), The Monkey Puzzle (2006), The Visitor (2009), Seven Deadly (2012), A Conspiracy of Stars (2015) and the covers album The Salentino Cuts (2017).
On August 5, 2013, Moore came on stage to perform live with Peter Frampton on Frampton's Guitar Circus concert at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Moore played guitar on Red Zone Rider's debut album Red Zone Rider released on September 16, 2014.
Equipment Moore currently endorses Kramer guitars. He was previously sponsored by Dean guitars, who produced several Vinnie Moore signature models for their instrument lineup. Prior to his endorsement of Dean, he played various other guitar brands over the years, including Ibanez and Fender, most notably the Talon model, manufactured by Heartfield, a Fender subsidiary. Moore also currently uses ENGL amplifiers and DiMarzio pickups.
Discography Discography Title Album details Peak chart positions SalesUS Mind's Eye Released: 1986 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, CS, LP, DL – US: 6,719+ Time Odyssey Released: 1988 Label: PolyGram Formats: CD, LP 147 US: 12,101+ Meltdown Released: 1991 Label: Relativity Formats: CD, CS, LP – US: 49,661+ Out of Nowhere Released: April 16, 1996 Label: Mayhem Formats: CD – US: 6,777+ The Maze Released: March 23, 1999 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL – US: 5,852+ Defying Gravity Released: July 10, 2001 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL – To the Core Released: May 26, 2009 Label: Mascot Formats: CD, DL – Aerial Visions Released: October 23, 2015 Label: Mind's Eye Music Formats: Digital, CD – Soul Shifter Released: October 4, 2019 Label: Mind's Eye Music Formats: Digital, CD – Double exposure Released: November 8, 2022 Label: Mind's Eye Music Formats: – "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Compilation albums Title Album details Collection: The Shrapnel Years Released: March 14, 2006 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL
Live albums Title Album details Live! Released: January 25, 2000 Label: Shrapnel Records Formats: CD, DL
Instructional videos Title Album detailsAdvanced Lead Guitar Techniques Released: 1987 Label: Hot Licks Formats: VHSSpeed, Accuracy, & Articulation Released: 1989 Label: Hot Licks Formats: VHS
Other appearances Title Year NotesVicious Rumors – Soldiers of the Night1985band memberAlice Cooper – Hey Stoopid1991band memberUFO – You Are Here2004band memberJordan Rudess – Rhythm of Time2004guestUFO – Showtime2005band memberUFO – The Monkey Puzzle2006band memberDestruction – D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.2008guestMichael Angelo Batio – Hands Without Shadows 2 – Voices2009guestUFO – The Visitor2009band memberGlen Drover – Metalusion2011guestUFO – Seven Deadly2012band memberRed Zone Rider – Red Zone Rider2014band memberUFO – A Conspiracy of Stars2015band memberUFO – The Salentino Cuts2017band member
References
External links
Official website