The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy was fought from 535 until 554 in Italy, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It is commonly divided into two phases. The first phase lasted from 535 to 540 and ended with the fall of Ravenna and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Romans. During the second phase (540/541–553), Goths' resistance was reinvigorated under Totila and put down only after a long struggle by Narses, who also repelled the 554 invasion by the Franks and Alamanni. Several cities in northern Italy continued to hold out, however, until the early 560s

The war had its roots in the ambition of Roman Emperor Justinian to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century (the Migration Period). By the end of the conflict Italy was devastated and considerably depopulated: the Italian population decreased from 7 million to 2.5 million.^{[citation needed]} As a consequence, the victorious East Romans found themselves unable to resist the invasion of the Lombards in 568, which resulted in the loss of large parts of the Italian peninsula.

Gothic War can refer to several periods of warfare between the Roman empire and the Goths, including:

Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 1952 – 6 February 2011), was a Northern Irish musician, most widely recognised as a blues singer and guitarist.

In a career dating back to the 1960s, Moore played with artists including Phil Lynott and Brian Downey during his teens, leading him to memberships with the Irish bands Skid Row and Thin Lizzy on three separate occasions. Moore shared the stage with such blues and rock luminaries as B.B. King, Albert King, Colosseum II, George Harrison and Greg Lake, as well as having a successful solo career. He guested on a number of albums recorded by high profile musicians, including a cameo appearance playing the lead guitar solo on "She's My Baby" from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.

Moore started performing at a young age, having picked up a battered acoustic guitar at the age of eight. He got his first quality guitar at the age of 14, learning to play the right-handed instrument in the standard way despite being left-handed. He moved to Dublin in 1968 at the age of 16. His early musical influences were artists such as Albert King, Elvis Presley, The Shadows and The Beatles. Later, having seen Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in his home town of Belfast, his own style was developing into a blues-rock sound that would be the dominant form of his career in music.

Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Blind Guardian is a part of the German heavy metal scene that emerged in the mid-1980s.

The band's lyrics, written by vocalist Hansi Kürsch, are inspired by the fiction of fantasy authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin as well as traditional legends and epics. Over the years, a running theme has developed personifying the band members as travelling bards, leading some fans to refer to the band affectionately as "The Bards".

Blind Guardian was formed in 1984 in Krefeld, Germany, by Hansi Kürsch (vocals, bass) and Andre Olbrich (guitar) under the name Lucifer's Heritage. The band first released two demos in 1985 and 1986, despite undergoing chaotic lineup changes: Markus Dörk (guitar) and Thomen Stauch (drums) were replaced by Christof Theißen and Hans-Peter Frey, respectively. Finally, in 1987, Marcus Siepen joined and Thomen came back to form the lineup which would stay consistent for the next 18 years.

Patrick Kevin Skinner (born February 25, 1974), better known as Kevin Skinner, is an American country music singer from the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky. He was the winner of the fourth season of America's Got Talent.

Skinner is from the Dublin community of Graves County. He began playing the guitar when he was 12 years old. He has been playing, writing, and singing his songs ever since he learned the art of music from his musician father, Joe, who is a fan of Hank Williams.^{[citation needed]} Skinner is married and has two children, a girl and a boy.

Kevin Skinner performed in a live audition on the August 4, 2009 episode of America's Got Talent. He became a fan favorite in the show after his performance of Garth Brooks' "If Tomorrow Never Comes".

Kevin received the $1 million prize, which was put into an annuity so it will be paid out over 40 years, and a headline show in Las Vegas, premiering in October 2009 and hosted by Jerry Springer. He performed "If Tomorrow Never Comes" on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on September 17, 2009.