The podgy boy with the upturned guitar was to become a rock legend.

It’s Belfast lad Gary Moore (far right) as a 13-year-old in 1965 setting out on his dreams of stardom. This exclusive Sunday Life picture shows Gary, who died of a heart attack in Spain a week ago, with one of his first groups in Belfast.

They called themselves the Beat Boys and the satin-shirted youngsters performed covers of the pop hits of the day — a far cry from the blues and jazz music that Gary Moore would later play with the likes of Thin Lizzy and Colisseum II.

Gary, who lived in Castleview Road directly opposite the front gates of the Stormont estate, formed the Beat Boys with Bill Downey who went to Ashfield Boys School with him.

The band’s drummer Robert Wilkinson later established himself as a champion motorcycle scrambler. The other member of the band was Robert Thompson.

Their lead singer Peter McClelland is the father of Mark McClelland who, along with Gary Lightbody, formed Snow Patrol.

Moore later joined a number of other groups including Platform Three and the Method.

He quit Belfast as a 16-year-old to go to Dublin to join Brush Shiels and Phil Lynott in Skid Row.

Lynott later recruited Moore to Thin Lizzy.

Gary Moore, 58, died on Sunday from a massive heart attack after arriving on the Costa Del Sol for a holiday.

He was buried yesterday after a funeral service in Brighton, where he had been living in recent years.

If you’re one of the guys in The Beat Boys we’d love to hear from you — email Ivan at: ivanlittle@live.com addivanlittle@live.com

Source Sunday Life