Celtic Thunder
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Celtic Thunder is a five-piece male Irish-Scottish singing group.
history
The project was initiated by the producer Sharon Browne , who had also created the female counterpart Celtic Woman , and the songwriter and producer Phil Coulter . Five singers with proven musical backgrounds, aged between 14 and 41, from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland were selected for the group.
In August 2007, the first show of Celtic Thunder was staged at the Helix in Dublin . The repertoire included traditional Celtic songs, new compositions by Coulter and a whole range of oldies from the 60s to 80s. Two thirds of the songs were solo performances by one of the five singers. The replay of the event was broadcast nationwide on US television in March 2008, and it was also televised on St. Patrick's Day in New York.
Celtic Thunder proved to be very successful and the album for the show quickly conquered number one on the US world music album charts. It was at the top 18 times before it was replaced by the follow-up album Act Two in October of the same year . This second release came with a tour of the northern states with performances in 48 cities. Another highlight for the group was the performance in front of US President Obama on St. Patrick's Day 2009.
The third album, Take Me Home , was released in July 2009 and once again reached number one on the world music charts. Like all albums before, this album also successfully placed in the official sales charts .
Members
Current occupation
- Damian McGinty (* 1992 in Derry): when Celtic Thunder first appeared, he was only 14 years old; before that he had already won singing competitions and made CD recordings. He left Celtic Thunder in 2011 and came back in 2016.
- Ryan Kelly (* 1978 in Derry): Northern Irish folk singer who has participated in casting shows and starred in musicals
- Neil Byrne (* 1979 in Derry): initially guitarist and background singer, now a full member of Celtic Thunder
- Michael O'Dwyer (* 1992): joined Celtic Thunder when it became known that Keith Harkin was leaving
- Emmett Cahill (* 1991): Irish classical singer, asked to succeed Paul Byrom
former members
- Keith Harkin (* 1986 in Derry ): Northern Irish pop musician, who also had festival and concert appearances before and became known through the BBC program Dhá Theanga , for which he also composed music
- Paul Byrom (* 1979 in Dublin ): classical tenor, successfully released his own classical CD in 2005 in his homeland and gave concerts in front of a sold out house
- Daniel Furlong (* 1998): Soprano singer, successor to Damian McGinty and winner of the third season of "The All Ireland Talent Show"
- George Donaldson (* 1968 in Glasgow , † March 12, 2014): Scottish folk musician who toured North America and mainland Europe
Discography and video publications
Studio albums
| title | Initial release | available formats | involved members | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic Thunder | 03/18/2008 | CD & DVD | Byrom, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | |
| Celtic Thunder: Act Two | 09/16/2008 | CD | Byrom, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | |
| Celtic Thunder: Take Me Home | 07/14/2009 | CD & DVD | Byrom, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | |
| Celtic Thunder: It's Entertainment! | 02/09/2010 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Byrom, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | also available as a QVC special edition with live bonus tracks |
| Celtic Thunder: Christmas | 10/12/2010 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Byrom, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | also available as a QVC special edition with bonus track |
| Celtic Thunder: Heritage | 02/21/2011 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Byrom, Cahill, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | |
| Celtic Thunder: Storm | 09/20/2011 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Byrom, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | recorded in 2009 |
| Celtic Thunder: Voyage | 02/28/2012 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Cahill, Furlong, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | |
| Celtic Thunder: Voyage II | 06/25/2012 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Byrom, Cahill, Furlong, Donaldson, Harkin, Kelly, McGinty | only available online |
| Celtic Thunder: Mythology | 02/19/2013 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Cahill, Donaldson, Harkin, Keegan, Kelly | also released as a double CD |
| Celtic Thunder: Christmas Voices | 10/11/2013 | CD | Byrne, Cahill, Donaldson, Harkin, Keegan, Kelly | Released in 2014 as Holiday Symphony |
| Emmet Cahill's Ireland | 02/24/2017 | CD | Byrne, Cahill, Donaldson, Harkin, Keegan, Kelly |
Compilations
| title | Initial release | available formats | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic Thunder: Ireland's Call | 2010 | CD | QVC bonus CD released together with It's Entertainment! |
| Celtic Thunder: The Irish Collection | 2011 | CD | Bonus CD released together with Storm |
| Celtic Thunder: Heartland | 2012 | CD plus DVD | 15 track compilation |
| Celtic Thunder: Islands | 2013 | CD | released for the Celtic Thunder Cuise 2013 |
| Celtic Thunder: Home | 2013 | DVD | contains highlights from previous DVDs |
| Celtic Thunder: Myths & Legends | 10/25/2013 | CD plus DVD | Australian publication; Backstage DVD and CD with 14 unreleased songs |
| Celtic Thunder: My Land | 04/18/2014 | CD plus DVD | Australian publication; Documentation DVD and CD with unreleased songs |
| George | 2014 | CD & DVD | George Donaldson tribute album |
| Celtic Horizons | 2014 | CD | released for the 2014 Celtic Thunder Cruise |
| The Very Best of Celtic Thunder | 2015 |
Live albums
| title | Initial release | available formats | involved members | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic Thunder: Live & Unplugged at Sullivan Hall New York | 2013 | CD & DVD | Byrne, Cahill, Donaldson, Harkin, Keegan, Kelly | recorded in December 2012 |
swell
- ↑ US chart history: Part 1 / Part 2 (Billboard)
- ↑ Entry about the show on US broadcaster WLIW 21 ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b press release from Reuters ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (March 18, 2009)
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Official MySpace page (English)