Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal.
Clannad are an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, starting out as an acoustic folk group mainly performing rearranged traditional Irish songs in Gaelic before they expanded their sound with original songs in English lyrics, electronic keyboards, vocal harmonies, and incorporating elements of rock, Celtic, new age, smooth jazz, and Gregorian chant.
Daron Malakian is an American musician of Armenian descent. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of the metal band System of a Down, and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter of Scars on Broadway. Malakian is known for his distinctive playing and is ranked 47th in Loudwire's list of "Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time" and number 11 in MusicRadar's poll "The 20 Greatest Metal Guitarists Ever". He is placed 30th in Guitar World's list of "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time". Malakian is the only member of System of a Down who was born in the United States, as the rest of the members were Armenian immigrants.
Eric Robin Bell is a Northern Irish rock and blues musician, best known as a founding member and the original guitarist of the rock group Thin Lizzy from 1969 to 1973. After his time in Thin Lizzy, he briefly fronted his own group before joining The Noel Redding Band in the mid-1970s. He has since released several solo albums and performs regularly with a blues-based trio, the Eric Bell Band.
Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill.
Joshua B. Ritter is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.
"The Black Velvet Band" is a traditional folk song collected from singers in Ireland, Australia, England, Canada and the United States describing how a young man is tricked and then sentenced to transportation to Australia, a common punishment in the British Empire during the 19th century. Versions were also published on broadsides.
The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and covers of pop music hits. The versatile music ranged from rock and roll and country and western songs to traditional dixieland jazz and even Irish Céilí dance, Newfie stomps, folk music and waltzes. Key to a showband's popular success was the ability to perform songs currently in the record charts. Some bands also did comedy skits onstage.
Brendan Bowyer was an Irish singer best known for fronting the Royal Showband and The Big Eight, and who had five number one hits in Ireland. He was also renowned for having The Beatles open for the Royal Showband at a concert on 2 April 1962 at the Pavilion Theatre, Liverpool, England, some six months before the release of The Beatles first single "Love Me Do", in October 1962. Bowyer was regarded as one of the first headlining Elvis impersonators. Elvis Presley himself was a big fan of Bowyer's performances and would often attend Bowyer's concerts in the Stardust Resort & Casino, Las Vegas during the 1970s.
Emmet Spiceland was an Irish folk band formed when brothers Brian Byrne and Michael Byrne of the Spiceland Folk Group joined forces with Dónal Lunny, Brian Bolger and Mick Moloney's Emmet Folk Group.
Brian "Red" Hurley is an Irish singer. Hurley's career includes singing lead for bands such as The Colours, The Wheels, and The Nevada. He had a series of number one records in the 1970s while performing with The Nevada. Hurley also represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1976 with the song "When".
The Miami Showband were an Irish showband in the 1960s and 1970s led firstly in 1962 by singer Jimmy Harte, followed by Dickie Rock and later by Fran O'Toole. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart.
The High Kings is an Irish folk group formed in Dublin in 2008. The band consists of Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden, and Paul O'Brien. As of 2020, the group had released five studio albums, four live albums, two live DVDs, and one greatest hits album. Their first three studio albums appeared at number three or higher on the Billboard world music chart, the first two went platinum in Ireland, and all of their albums charted in Ireland.
Sean Dunphy was an Irish singer who represented Ireland at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest, achieving second place with "If I Could Choose". He was also the first Irish singer to record in Nashville.
Darren Holden is an Irish singer-songwriter who has performed on Broadway as part of Riverdance and Movin' Out and in the national tours for both shows. His debut solo album was released in Ireland in 1998. He later joined the Irish folk group, the High Kings, along with Finbarr Clancy and Brian Dunphy.
James Augustine "Butch" Moore was an Irish singer and a showband icon during the 1960s.
Cathal Dunne is an Irish singer. He is most famous for representing Ireland in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Happy Man". He has since gained a following as Cahal Dunne, performing traditional Irish songs in the United States, where he now lives.
The Barleycorn was an Irish traditional music and rebel music band.
Finbarr Clancy is an Irish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist. Early in his career he performed with The Clancy Brothers. He later became a member of the group The High Kings.
Earl William Gill was an Irish trumpet-player and bandleader who, with the Hoedowners, achieved fourteen Top 20 hits in the Irish charts between 1966 and 1973. As "Tim Pat", he also had a solo hit in 1971 with a novelty song, "Poor Poor Farmer".
