William Michael Joseph Whelan is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute piece of original music accompanying a new take on traditional Irish stepdance that became a full-length stage production and spawned a worldwide craze for Irish traditional music and dance. The corresponding soundtrack album earned him a Grammy. "Riverdance" was released as a single in 1994, credited to "Bill Whelan and Anúna featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra". It reached number one in Ireland for 18 weeks and number nine in the UK. The album of the same title reached number 31 in the album charts in 1995.
Clannad were an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal, by siblings Ciarán, Pól and Moya Ui Bhraonáin and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Ó Dúgáin (Duggan). They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history. Beginning as an acoustic folk group mainly performing rearranged traditional Irish songs in Irish, they expanded their sound with original songs in English, vocal harmonies, electronic keyboards, and elements of rock, Celtic, new age, smooth jazz, and Gregorian chant.
Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed the band Clannad. Brennan released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, a successful venture. She has received a Grammy Award from five nominations and has won an Emmy Award. She has recorded music for several soundtracks, including Titanic, To End All Wars and King Arthur.
The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim. They are from Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland.
Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members.
VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin is an album of live performances recorded by Irish pop rock band the Corrs in Dublin, Ireland, accompanied by the Irish Film Orchestra. The album features the Corrs performing previously released songs with slight remixex. Album highlights include two duets with Bono of U2 — performing Ryan Adams' "When the Stars Go Blue", and the Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra song "Summer Wine". The Corrs also performed Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing", featuring a guitar solo by Ronnie Wood, who later also performed alongside them for the Rolling Stones song "Ruby Tuesday".
The Corrs Unplugged is the third album by Irish band The Corrs, filmed and released in the fall of 1999. The album is part of the iconic MTV Unplugged series, which features musicians performing in a more acoustic, “stripped-down” concert setting. Initially, the album was released internationally, albeit not in the United States until a year later, after the band had experienced further success with their single “Breathless” and their fourth album In Blue, with both releases earning them their highest chart positions to-date in the US.
Riverdance is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler, Michael Flatley and the vocal ensemble Anúna. Shortly afterwards, husband and wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded it into a stage show, which opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995. As of 2023, the show continues to tour the world.
Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.
Davy Spillane is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.
Tara Blaise is an Irish female pop, folk, and rock singer. The eldest of six children, Blaise was born in London, but at the age of three moved with her family to Ireland and grew up in Aughrim County Wicklow.
Macalla is a 1985 musical album by the Irish folk group Clannad. It is their ninth album and is known for the duet between Clannad's singer Moya Brennan and U2 vocalist Bono on the single "In a Lifetime". An alternate version of the album's first track, "Caisleán Óir", was used throughout the third Robin of Sherwood series.
"In a Lifetime" is a pop song performed by Irish artists Clannad and Bono. It was written by brothers Pól Brennan and Ciarán Brennan and produced by Steve Nye. The single was released in January 1986, and was the third single to be released from Clannad's eighth studio album Macalla (1985). It charted in many countries including United States, Ireland, UK, Italy and Brazil. It is one of Clannad's most successful songs and it remains as Bono's most successful solo effort.
Out of the Air is an album by the Irish uilleann pipes player Davy Spillane, that was originally released on Tara Music in 1988. AllMusic awards this album with 4 stars.
EastWind is an album by Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane, showcasing a fusion of Irish folk music with traditional Bulgarian and Macedonian music. Produced by Irvine and Bill Whelan, who also contributed keyboards and piano, it was widely regarded as revolutionary at recording.
Vinnie Kilduff is an Irish multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, primarily known for his work with U2, The Waterboys, Clannad and Sinéad O'Connor. He plays whistle, uilleann pipes, guitar, mandolin, piano, harmonica, bodhrán and flute. He is described as one of Ireland's best known contemporary whistle players.
Declan Masterson is an Irish uilleann piper, traditional musician, composer and arranger. In addition to pursuing a solo career and playing with Moving Hearts and Patrick Street, Masterson was one of the Riverdance musicians.
Live in Dublin is the second live album by Irish folk rock band Moving Hearts, recorded in 2007 at the Vicar Street venue in Dublin by Tim Martin. Noel Eccles and Keith Donald were executive producers, and the album was mixed by Andrew Boland and mastered by Martin Giles at Alchemy, in London.
Genesis supported their 1997 album Calling All Stations with a 47-date European tour from 29 January to 31 May 1998, featuring shows in large arenas throughout Europe. The core trio of lead vocalist Ray Wilson, keyboardist Tony Banks, and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford were joined by Israeli musician Nir Zidkyahu on drums, percussion, and backing vocals and Irish musician Anthony Drennan on guitar and bass. This was the only tour with Wilson, Zidkyahu and Drennan, as well as the first since 1978 not to feature longtime singer/drummer Phil Collins or touring members Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson as part of the lineup. Rehearsals took place at Bray Film Studios in Windsor and the Working Men's Club in Chiddingfold, England close to the band's recording studio. The tour concluded with spots at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Festival in Germany. A majority of the older songs were transposed in a lower key to accommodate Wilson's lower vocal range. Midway through the set included an acoustic medley of songs from their 1970s output.
Philip Donnelly was a guitarist, songwriter and producer born in Clontarf, Dublin. Known as the Clontarf Cowboy, he gained international recognition touring and recording with artists such as the Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine and Donovan.
