Bernie Tormé

Heavy metal/hard rock guitarist Bernie Torme has had several opportunities to break through to the big time as a hired gun with established (or promising) artists, but each time, circumstances prevented him from doing so. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Torme first picked up the guitar at the age of 11, looking up to such fellow Irish-bred guitarists as Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore, and Thin Lizzy's Eric Bell for inspiration early on. It wasn't long until Torme found himself playing in local bands, before leaving for London during the early '70s. While in London, Torme formed a hard rockin' trio, Scrapyard, which eventually changed its name to the Bernie Torme Band and turned to a more basic, punk style (reflective of what was going on at the time in England). Despite issuing a pair of singles and consistently touring the United Kingdom, the Bernie Torme Band failed to take off commercially. With the group on its last legs, the guitarist accepted an invitation by ex-Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan to join his group, Gillan, in the late '70s. Torme's tenure with Gillan was a short yet successful one, as the group enjoyed three Top Ten U.K. albums (1979's Mr. Universe, 1980's Glory Road, and the 1981 chart-topper, Future Shock), in addition to extensive worldwide tours of Europe, Japan, and the United States. Despite Gillan's success, Torme surprisingly left the group in 1981 (stating "boredom" as the reason for his exit), and joined up with veteran prog rockers Atomic Rooster. Torme's initial tenure with Atomic Rooster was a fleeting one; although he toured with the group, Torme never appeared on any of the group's studio albums (Torme would sporadically return back to the group, and an archival live album, Live in Germany 1983, was issued in 2000). But Torme's reputation as one...