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Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK top 40, as well as internationally, including in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He has scored top ten albums in the UK in four consecutive decades, following the success of 2021's '' Latest Record Project, Volume 1''. Eighteen of his albums have reached the top 40 in the United States, twelve of them between 1997 and 2017. Since turning 70 in 2015, he has released – on average – more than an album a year. His accolades include two
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, the 2017 Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, and inductions into both the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
and the
Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...
. In 2016 he was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. Morrison began performing as a teenager in the late 1950s, playing a variety of instruments including guitar, harmonica, keyboards and saxophone for various Irish showbands, covering the popular hits of that time. Known as "Van the Man" to his fans, Morrison rose to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
R&B band Them, with whom he wrote and recorded " Gloria", which became a
garage band Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...
staple. His solo career started under the pop-hit-oriented guidance of Bert Berns with the release of the hit single " Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967. After Berns's death,
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
bought Morrison's contract and allowed him three sessions to record '' Astral Weeks'' (1968). While initially a poor seller, the album has come to be regarded as a classic. ''
Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album '' Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morr ...
'' (1970) established Morrison as a major artist, and he built on his reputation throughout the 1970s with a series of acclaimed albums and live performances. Much of Morrison's music is structured around the conventions of
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...
and early
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
. An equal part of his catalogue consists of lengthy, spiritually inspired musical journeys that show the influence of Celtic tradition, jazz and
stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...
narrative, of which ''Astral Weeks'' is a prime example. The two strains together are sometimes referred to as "Celtic soul", and his music has been described as attaining "a kind of violent transcendence".


Life and career


Early life and musical roots: 1945–1964

George Ivan Morrison was born on 31 August 1945, at 125 Hyndford Street, Bloomfield, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as the only child of George Morrison, a
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
electrician, and Violet Morrison (née Stitt), who had been a singer and
tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...
r in her youth. The previous occupant of the house was the writer
Lee Child James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes Thriller (genre), thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher (book series), Jack Reacher'' novel series. The boo ...
's father. Morrison's family were working class
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
descended from the
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...
population that settled in Belfast.Hinton (1997), page 18.Heylin (2003), p. 4. From 1950 to 1956, Morrison, who began to be known as "Van" during this time, attended Elmgrove Primary School.Turner (1993), p. 20. His father had what was at the time one of the largest record collections in Northern Ireland (acquired during his time in Detroit, Michigan, in the early 1950s)Hinton (1997), p. 19. and the young Morrison grew up listening to artists such as
Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( Lemott, later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz ...
,
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
,
Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter ( ; January 1888 or 1889 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the ...
,
Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occas ...
and
Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee was bor ...
and
Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called ...
;Hinton (1997), p. 20. of whom he later said, "If it weren't for guys like Ray and Solomon, I wouldn't be where I am today. Those guys were the inspiration that got me going. If it wasn't for that kind of music, I couldn't do what I'm doing now." His father's record collection exposed him to various musical genres, such as the
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
of
Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
; the
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
of
Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...
; the
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
of
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
; the
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
of
Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
; and
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
from
Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...
and
Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers ( – ) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Country Music", he is best known for his di ...
, while the first record he ever bought was by blues musician
Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occas ...
. When
Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...
had a hit with "
Rock Island Line "Rock Island Line" ( Roud 15211) was originally sung as a spiritual by slaves on the plantations of the Mississippi River Valley, and was first transcribed as a folk song in 1929. The first recording was made by John Lomax, who was traveling amo ...
", written by Huddie Ledbetter (
Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter ( ; January 1888 or 1889 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the ...
), Morrison felt he was familiar with and able to connect with
skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...
music as he had been hearing Lead Belly before that.Collis (1996), page 33. Morrison's father bought him his first acoustic guitar when he was 11, and he learned to play rudimentary
chords Chord or chords may refer to: Art and music * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...
from the song book ''The
Carter Family The Carter Family was an American folk music group that recorded and performed between 1927 and 1956. Regarded as one of the most important music acts of the early 20th century, they had a profound influence on the development of bluegrass, c ...
Style'', edited by
Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music during the 20th century. He was a musician, folklorist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activ ...
.Turner (1993), p. 25. In 1957, at the age of twelve, Morrison formed his first band, a skiffle group, "The Sputniks", named after the satellite,
Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program ...
, that had been launched in October of that year by the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
.Hinton (1997), page 22. In 1958, the band played at some of the local cinemas, and Morrison took the lead, contributing most of the singing and arranging. Other short-lived groups followed – at 14, he formed Midnight Special, another modified skiffle band, and played at a school concert. Then, when he heard
Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...
playing saxophone on "The Train and The River", he talked his father into buying him a
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
,Heylin (2003), page 34. and took saxophone and music reading lessons from jazz musician George Cassidy, who Morrison saw as a "big inspiration", and they became friends, he also grew up with him on Hyndford Street.Turner (1993), page 26. Now playing the saxophone, Morrison joined with various local bands, including one called Deanie Sands and the Javelins, with whom he played guitar and shared singing. The line-up of the band was lead vocalist Deanie Sands, guitarist
George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
, and drummer and vocalist Roy Kane. Later the four main musicians of the Javelins, with the addition of Wesley Black as pianist, became known as the Monarchs.Turner (1993), page 28. Morrison attended Orangefield Boys Secondary School, leaving in July 1960 with no qualifications. As a member of a working-class community, he was expected to get a regular full-time job, so after several short apprenticeship positions, he settled into a job as a
window cleaner Window cleaning, or window washing, is the exterior cleaning of architectural glass used for structural, lighting, or decorative purposes. It can be done manually, using a variety of tools for cleaning and access. Technology is also employed and ...
—later alluded to in his songs " Cleaning Windows" and "
Saint Dominic's Preview ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
". However, he had been developing his musical interests from an early age and continued playing with the Monarchs part-time. Young Morrison also played with the Harry Mack Showband, the Great Eight, with his older workplace friend, Geordie (G. D.) Sproule, whom he later named as one of his biggest influences.Rogan (2006), pages 43–48. At age 17, Morrison toured Europe for the first time with the Monarchs, now calling themselves the International Monarchs. This Irish showband, with Morrison playing saxophone, guitar and harmonica, in addition to back-up duty on bass and drums, toured seamy clubs and US Army bases in Scotland, England and Germany, often playing five sets a night. While in Germany, the band recorded a single, "Boozoo Hully Gully"/"Twingy Baby", under the name Georgie and the Monarchs. This was Morrison's first recording, taking place in November 1963 at Ariola Studios in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
with Morrison on saxophone; it made the lower reaches of the German charts. Upon returning to Belfast in November 1963, the group disbanded,Turner (1993), pp. 33–38. so Morrison connected with Geordie Sproule again and played with him in the Manhattan Showband along with guitarist Herbie Armstrong. When Armstrong auditioned to play with Brian Rossi and the Golden Eagles, later known as the Wheels, Morrison went along and was hired as a blues singer.


Them: 1964–1966

The roots of Them, the band that first broke Morrison on the international scene, came in April 1964 when he responded to an advert for musicians to play at a new R&B club at the Maritime Hotel in College Square North – an old Belfast hostel frequented by sailors. The new club needed a band for its opening night. Morrison had left the Golden Eagles (the group with which he had been performing at the time), so he created a new band out of the Gamblers, an East Belfast group formed by Ronnie Millings, Billy Harrison and Alan Henderson in 1962. Morrison took the place of his friend, Bill Dunn, who left the band months earlier to become a pastor. Eric Wrixon, still a schoolboy, was the piano player and keyboardist. Morrison played saxophone and harmonica and shared vocals with Billy Harrison. They followed Eric Wrixon's suggestion for a new name, and the Gamblers morphed into Them, their name taken from the 1954 horror movie '' Them!'' The band's R&B performances at the Maritime attracted attention. Them performed without a routine and Morrison
ad lib In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...
bed, creating his songs live as he performed.Hinton (1997), page 40. While the band did covers, they also played some of Morrison's early songs, such as "Could You Would You", which he had written in
Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...
while touring with the Manhattan Showband. The debut of Morrison's " Gloria" took place on stage here. Sometimes, depending on his mood, the song could last up to twenty minutes. Morrison has said, "Them lived and died on the stage at the Maritime Hotel", believing the band did not manage to capture the spontaneity and energy of their live performances on their records.Turner (1993), page 44. The statement also reflected the instability of the Them line-up, with numerous members passing through the ranks after the definitive Maritime period. Morrison and Henderson remained the only constants, and a less successful version of Them soldiered on after Morrison's departure. Dick Rowe of
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
became aware of the band's performances and signed Them to a standard two-year contract. In that period, they released two albums and ten singles, with two more singles released after Morrison departed the band. They had three
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
hits, "
Baby, Please Don't Go "Baby, Please Don't Go" is a traditional blues song that was popularized by Delta blues musician Big Joe Williams in 1935. Many cover versions followed, leading to its description as "one of the most played, arranged, and rearranged pieces in ...
" (1964), " Here Comes the Night" (1965), and " Mystic Eyes" (1965), but it was the B-side of "Baby, Please Don't Go", the
garage band Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...
classic "Gloria",Turner (1993), pages 48–51 that went on to become a rock standard covered by
Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
,
the Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...
, the Shadows of Knight,
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
and many others. Building on the success of their singles in the United States, and riding on the back of the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...
, Them undertook a two-month tour of America in May and June 1966 that included a residency from 30 May to 18 June at the
Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...
in Los Angeles.Turner (1993), pages 65 – 66.
The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...
were the supporting act on the last week, and Morrison's influence on the Doors singer
Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...
was noted by
John Densmore John Paul Densmore (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the Rock music, rock band the Doors and as such is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He appeared on every recording made by the band, ...
in his book ''Riders on the Storm''. Brian Hinton relates how "Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near namesake's stagecraft, his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks."Hinton (1997), page 67. On the final night, the two Morrisons and the two bands jammed together on "Gloria". from Van Morrison website. Photo of both Morrisons on stage. Access date 26 May 2007. Toward the end of the tour the band members became involved in a dispute with their manager, Decca Records' Phil Solomon, over the revenues paid to them; that, coupled with the expiry of their work visas, meant the band returned from America dejected. After two more concerts in Ireland, Them split up. Morrison concentrated on writing some of the songs that would appear on '' Astral Weeks'', while the remnants of the band reformed in 1967 and relocated to America.Turner (1993), pages 72–73.


Start of solo career with Bang Records and "Brown Eyed Girl": 1967

Bert Berns, Them's producer and composer of their 1965 hit "Here Comes the Night", persuaded Morrison to return to New York to record solo for his new label, Bang Records.Rogan (2006), page 188. Morrison flew over and signed a contract he had not fully studied. During a two-day recording session at A & R Studios starting 28 March 1967, he recorded eight songs, originally intended to be used as four singles. Instead, these songs were released as the album '' Blowin' Your Mind!'' without Morrison's consultation. He said he only became aware of the album's release when a friend mentioned that he had bought a copy. Morrison was unhappy with the album and said he "had a different concept of it".Rogan (2006), page 204. " Brown Eyed Girl", one of the songs from ''Blowin' Your Mind!'', was released as a single in mid-June 1967, reaching number ten in the US charts. "Brown Eyed Girl" became Morrison's most-played song. The song spent a total of sixteen weeks on the chart. An evaluation in 2015 of downloads since 2004 and airplay since 2010 had "Brown Eyed Girl" as the most popular song of the entire 1960s decade. In 2000, it was listed at No. 21 on the ''Rolling Stone''/MTV list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs and as No. 49 on
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs. In 2010, "Brown Eyed Girl" was ranked No. 110 on the ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine list of
500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...
. In January 2007, "Brown Eyed Girl" was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
. Following the death of Berns in 1967, Morrison became involved in a contract dispute with Berns' widow, Ilene Berns, that prevented him from performing on stage or recording in the New York area.Rogan (2006), pages 212–215. The song "Big Time Operators", released in 1993, is thought to allude to his dealings with the New York
music business The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent ...
during this period.Rogan (2006) page 216. He moved to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, and faced personal and financial problems; he had "slipped into a malaise" and had trouble finding concert bookings.Rogan (2006) page 217. He regained his professional footing through the few gigs he could find, and started recording with
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
.Heylin (2003), page 170.Heylin (2003), pages 176–177. Warner Bros. bought out Morrison's Bang contract with a $20,000 cash transaction that took place in an abandoned warehouse on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan.Walsh (2018), pages 15–19. A clause required Morrison to submit 36 original songs within a year to Berns' music publishing company. He recorded them in one session on an out-of-tune guitar, with lyrics about subjects including
ringworm Dermatophytosis, also known as tinea and ringworm, is a mycosis, fungal infection of the skin (a dermatomycosis), that may affect skin, hair, and nails. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the a ...
and sandwiches. Ilene Berns thought the songs were "nonsense" and did not use them.Rogan (2006), pages 212–222. The throwaway compositions came to be known as the "revenge" songs, and did not see official release until the 2017 compilation '' The Authorized Bang Collection''.


''Astral Weeks'': 1968

Morrison's first album for Warner Bros Records was ''Astral Weeks'' (which he had already performed in several clubs around Boston), a mystical
song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...
, often considered to be his best work and one of the best albums of all time.Rogan (2006), page 223. Morrison has said, "When ''Astral Weeks'' came out, I was starving, ''literally''."Hinton (1997), page 100. Released in 1968, the album originally received an indifferent response from the public, but it eventually achieved critical acclaim. The album is described by
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's William Ruhlmann as hypnotic, meditative, and as possessing a unique musical power. It has been compared to French
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and mystical Celtic poetry.Hinton (1997), pages 88–89. A 2004 ''Rolling Stone'' magazine review begins with the words: "This is music of such enigmatic beauty that thirty-five years after its release, ''Astral Weeks'' still defies easy, admiring description."
Alan Light Alan Light (born August 4, 1966) is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for ''Rolling Stone'' and the editor-in-chief for '' Vibe,'' '' Spin,'' and ''Tracks''. Early life Light grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Cincin ...
later described ''Astral Weeks'' as "like nothing he had done previously—and really, nothing anyone had done previously. Morrison sings of lost love, death, and nostalgia for childhood in the Celtic soul that would become his signature." It has been placed on many lists of best albums of all time. In the 1995 ''Mojo'' list of 100 Best Albums, it was listed as number two and was number nineteen on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's "
500 Greatest Albums of All Time 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...
" in 2003. In December 2009, it was voted the top Irish album of all time by a poll of leading Irish musicians conducted by ''
Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...
'' magazine.


''Moondance'' to ''Into the Music'': 1970–1979

Morrison's third solo album, ''
Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album '' Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morr ...
'', which was released in 1970, became his first million selling album and reached number twenty-nine on the Billboard charts.Turner (1993), page 95.Turner (1993), page 98. The style of ''Moondance'' stood in contrast to that of '' Astral Weeks''. Whereas ''Astral Weeks'' had a sorrowful and vulnerable tone, ''Moondance'' restored a more optimistic and cheerful message to his music,Yorke (1975), page 69. which abandoned the previous record's abstract folk compositions in favour of more formally composed songs and a lively
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
style he expanded on throughout his career. The title track, although not released in the US as a single until 1977, received heavy play in
FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...
formats.Rogan (2006), page 250. " Into the Mystic" has also gained a wide following over the years. " Come Running", which reached the
American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...
, rescued Morrison from what seemed then as Hot 100 obscurity. ''Moondance'' was both well received and favourably reviewed.
Lester Bangs Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist and critic. He wrote for ''Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines and was also a performing musician. The music critic Jim DeRogatis called ...
and
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
had a combined full-page review in ''Rolling Stone'', saying Morrison now had "the striking imagination of a consciousness that is visionary in the strongest sense of the word." "That was the type of band I dig," Morrison said of the ''Moondance'' sessions. "Two horns and a rhythm section—they're the type of bands that I like best." He produced the album himself as he felt like nobody else knew what he wanted.Heylin (2003), page 226. ''Moondance'' was listed at number sixty-five on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's ''The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time''. In March 2007, ''Moondance'' was listed as number seventy-two on the NARM
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
list of the "Definitive 200". Over the next few years, he released a succession of albums, starting with a second one in 1970. ''
His Band and the Street Choir ''His Band and the Street Choir'' (also referred to as ''Street Choir'') is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. Originally titled ''Virgo's Fool'', ' ...
'' had a freer, more relaxed sound than ''Moondance'', but not the ''perfection'', in the opinion of critic
Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received that institution's Ahme ...
, who felt like "a few more numbers with a gravity of 'Street Choir' would have made this album as perfect as anyone could have stood." It contained the hit single "
Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...
", which charted at number nine in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.Collis (1996), page 122. In 1971, he released another well-received album, ''
Tupelo Honey ''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs in Woodstock, New York, before his move to Marin Count ...
''.Rogan (2006), page 259. This album produced the hit single " Wild Night" that was later covered by
John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...
and Meshell Ndegeocello. The title song has a notably country-soul feel about it and the album ended with another country tune, " Moonshine Whiskey". Morrison said he originally intended to make an all-country album.Rogan (2006), pages 267–268. The recordings were as live as possible—after rehearsing the songs the musicians would enter the studio and play a whole set in one take. His co-producer,
Ted Templeman Edward John "Ted" Templeman (born October 24, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. Among the acts with whom he has had a long relationship are the rock bands Van Halen and Doobie Brothers and the singer Van Morrison; he produced ...
, described this recording process as the "scariest thing I've ever seen. When he's got something together, he wants to put it down right away with no overdubbing."Hinton (1997), page 137. Released in 1972, ''
Saint Dominic's Preview ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
'' revealed Morrison's break from the more accessible style of his previous three albums and moving back towards the more daring, adventurous, and meditative aspects of ''Astral Weeks''. The combination of two styles of music demonstrated a versatility not previously found in his earlier albums. Two songs, "
Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile) "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" is a song written and performed by Van Morrison and featured as the opening track on his sixth studio album, '' Saint Dominic's Preview''. It was released by Warner Bros. in July 1972 as the f ...
" and " Redwood Tree", reached the Hot 100 singles chart. The songs " Listen to the Lion" and " Almost Independence Day" are each over ten minutes long and employ the type of poetic imagery not heard since ''Astral Weeks''.Heylin (2003), pages 255–256. It was his highest-charting album in the US until his Top Ten debut on ''Billboard'' 200 in 2008. He released his next album, '' Hard Nose the Highway'', in 1973, receiving mixed, but mostly negative, reviews. The album contained the popular song "
Warm Love "Warm Love" is a hit song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. The song was included on his 1973 album '' Hard Nose the Highway''. It was a Top Forty single hit when released in April 1973.Yorke, Into the Music, p. 102 Jac ...
" but otherwise has been largely dismissed critically.Heylin (2003), pages 265–267. In a 1973 ''Rolling Stone'' review, it was described as: "psychologically complex, musically somewhat uneven and lyrically excellent." During a three-week vacation visit to Ireland in October 1973, Morrison wrote seven of the songs that made up his next album, '' Veedon Fleece''.Turner (1993), page 122. Though it attracted scant initial attention, its critical stature grew markedly over the years—with ''Veedon Fleece'' now often considered to be one of Morrison's most impressive and poetic works.Rogan (2006), page 301. In a 2008 ''Rolling Stone'' review, Andy Greene writes that when released in late 1974: "it was greeted by a collective shrug by the rock critical establishment" and concludes: "He's released many wonderful albums since, but he's never again hit the majestic heights of this one." " You Don't Pull No Punches, but You Don't Push the River", one of the album's side closers, exemplifies the long, hypnotic, cryptic Morrison with its references to visionary poet
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
and to the seemingly
Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...
-like Veedon Fleece object.Rogan (2006), page 300. Morrison took three years to release a follow-up album. After a decade without taking time off, he said in an interview, he needed to get away from music completely and ceased listening to it for several months.Rogan (2006), page 306. Also suffering from
writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...
, he seriously considered leaving the music business for good.Heylin (2003), page 305. Speculation that an extended
jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
would be released either under the title ''Mechanical Bliss'', or ''Naked in the Jungle'', or ''Stiff Upper Lip'', came to nothing,Rogan (2006), pages 304–306. and Morrison's next album was '' A Period of Transition'' in 1977, a collaboration with Dr. John, who had appeared at ''
The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group the Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as the Band's "farewell concert a ...
'' concert with Morrison in 1976. The album received a mild critical reception and marked the beginning of a very prolific period of song-making. The following year, Morrison released ''
Wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...
''; it became at that time the fastest-selling album of his career and soon went gold.Hinton (1997), page 210. The title track became a modest hit, peaking at number forty-two. Making use of 1970s synthesisers, it mimics the sounds of the
shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...
radio stations he listened to in his youth. The opening track, "Kingdom Hall"—the name given by
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
to their places of worship—evoked Morrison's childhood experiences of religion with his mother, and foretold the religious themes that were more evident on his next album, '' Into the Music''. Considered by
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
as "the definitive post-classic-era Morrison", ''Into the Music'' was released in the last year of the 1970s. Songs on this album for the first time alluded to the healing power of music, which became an abiding interest of Morrison's.Hage (2009), page 89. " Bright Side of the Road" was a joyful, uplifting song that is featured on the soundtrack of the movie, ''
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
''.


''Common One'' to ''Avalon Sunset'': 1980–1989

With his next album, the new decade found Morrison following his
muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
into uncharted territory and sometimes merciless reviews.Heylin (2003), page 364.Rogan (2006), page 330. In February 1980, Morrison and a group of musicians travelled to Super Bear, a studio in the
French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such a ...
, to record (on the site of a former
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
) what is considered to be the most controversial album in his discography; later "Morrison admitted his original concept was even more esoteric than the final product."Hinton (1997), page 230.Heylin (2003), page 365. The album, ''
Common One ''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...
'', consisted of six songs; the longest, " Summertime in England", lasted fifteen and a half minutes and ended with the words ''"Can you feel the silence?"''. ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' magazine's
Paul Du Noyer Paul Du Noyer (born Paul Anthony Du Noyer; 21 May 1954) is an English rock journalist and author. He has written and edited for the music magazines ''NME'', '' Q'' and '' Mojo''. Du Noyer is the author of several books on the music industry, ro ...
called the album "colossally smug and cosmically dull; an interminable, vacuous and drearily egotistical stab at spirituality: Into the muzak."
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
, whose previous writings had been favourably inclined towards Morrison, critically remarked: "It's Van acting the part of the 'mystic poet' he thinks he's supposed to be." Morrison insisted the album was never "meant to be a commercial album." Biographer
Clinton Heylin Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author. Heylin has written extensively about popular music, especially on the life and work of Bob Dylan. Education Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College ...
concludes: "He would not attempt anything so ambitious again. Henceforth every radical idea would be tempered by some notion of commerciality." Later, critics reassessed the album more favourably with the success of "Summertime in England".
Lester Bangs Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs (December 14, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist and critic. He wrote for ''Creem'' and ''Rolling Stone'' magazines and was also a performing musician. The music critic Jim DeRogatis called ...
wrote in 1982, "Van was making holy music even though he thought he was, and us rock critics had made our usual mistake of paying too much attention to the lyrics." Morrison's next album, '' Beautiful Vision'', released in 1982, had him returning once again to the music of his Northern Irish roots.Rogan (2006), page 338. Well received by the critics and public, it produced a minor UK hit single, " Cleaning Windows", that referenced one of Morrison's first jobs after leaving school.Rogan (2006), pages 337–338. Several other songs on the album, " Vanlose Stairway", "She Gives Me Religion", and the instrumental, "
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
" show the presence of a new personal muse in his life: a Danish public relations agent, who would share Morrison's spiritual interests and serve as a steadying influence on him throughout most of the 1980s.Heylin (2003), page 371. "Scandinavia", with Morrison on piano, was nominated in the ''Best Rock Instrumental Performance'' category for the 25th Annual
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
. Much of the music Morrison released throughout the 1980s continued to focus on the themes of
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
and faith. His 1983 album, '' Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'', was "a move towards creating music for meditation" with synthesisers, uilleann pipes and flute sounds, and four of the tracks were instrumentals.Turner (1993), page 153. The titling of the album and the presence of the instrumentals were noted to be indicative of Morrison's long-held belief that "it's not the words one uses but the force of conviction behind those words that matters." During this period of time, Morrison had studied
Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...
and gave "Special Thanks" to L. Ron Hubbard on the album's credits.Turner (1993), page 150 '' A Sense of Wonder'', Morrison's 1985 album, pulled together the spiritual themes contained in his last four albums, which were defined in a ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' review as: "rebirth (''Into the Music''), deep contemplation and meditation (''Common One''); ecstasy and humility (''Beautiful Vision''); and blissful, mantra like languor (''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'')." The single " Tore Down a la Rimbaud" was a reference to Rimbaud and an earlier bout of
writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...
that Morrison had encountered in 1974.Heylin (2003), page 308. In 1985, Morrison also wrote the musical score for the movie '' Lamb'' starring
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
.Collis (1996), page 162. Morrison's 1986 release, '' No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'', was said to contain a "genuine holiness ... and musical freshness that needs to be set in context to understand."Hinton (1997), page 255. Critical response was favourable with a ''Sounds'' reviewer calling the album "his most intriguingly involved since ''Astral Weeks''" and "Morrison at his most mystical, magical best."Heylin (2003), page 396.Rogan (2006), page 360. It contains the song " In the Garden" that, according to Morrison, had a "definite meditation process which is a 'form' of transcendental meditation as its basis. It's not TM". He entitled the album as a rebuttal to media attempts to place him in various creeds.Hinton (1997), page 253. In an interview in the Observer he told Anthony Denselow: After releasing the "No Guru" album, Morrison's music appeared less gritty and more
adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
with the well-received 1987 album, '' Poetic Champions Compose'', considered to be one of his recording highlights of the 1980s. The romantic ballad from this album, " Someone Like You", has been featured subsequently in the soundtracks of several movies, including 1995's ''
French Kiss A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sens ...
'', and in 2001, both '' Someone Like You'' and '' Bridget Jones's Diary''. In 1988, he released '' Irish Heartbeat'', a collection of traditional Irish folk songs recorded with the Irish group
the Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...
, which reached number 18 in the UK album charts. The title song, " Irish Heartbeat", was originally recorded on his 1983 album ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart''. The 1989 album, '' Avalon Sunset'', which featured the hit duet with
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
" Whenever God Shines His Light" and the ballad " Have I Told You Lately" (on which "earthly love transmutes into that for God" ( Hinton)),Hinton (1997), page 278. reached 13 on the UK album chart. Although considered to be a deeply spiritual album, it also contained "Daring Night", which "deals with full, blazing sex, whatever its churchy organ and gentle lilt suggest"(Hinton).Hinton (1997), page 280. Morrison's familiar themes of "God, woman, his childhood in Belfast and those enchanted moments when time stands still" were prominent in the songs.Turner (1993), page 163. He can be heard calling out the change of
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
at the end of this song, repeating the numbers "1–4" to cue the chord changes (the first and fourth chord in the key of the music). He often completed albums in two days, frequently releasing first takes.Heylin (2003) pages 429–463.


''The Best of Van Morrison'' to ''Back on Top'': 1990–1999

The early to middle 1990s were commercially successful for Morrison with three albums reaching the top five of the UK charts, sold-out concerts, and a more visible public profile; but this period also marked a decline in the critical reception to his work.Heylin (2003), pages 450–458. The decade began with the release of '' The Best of Van Morrison''; compiled by Morrison himself, the album was focused on his hit singles, and became a multi-platinum success remaining a year and a half on the UK charts.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
determined it to be "far and away the best-selling album of his career." In 1991 he wrote and produced four songs for Tom Jones released on the ''Carrying A Torch'' album and performed a duet with
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
on BBC Arena special. The 1994 live double album '' A Night in San Francisco'' received favourable reviews as well as commercial success by reaching number eight on the UK charts. 1995's '' Days Like This'' also had large sales—though the critical reviews were not always favourable.Heylin (2003), page 458. This period also saw a number of side projects, including the live jazz performances of 1996's ''
How Long Has This Been Going On "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the musical theater, musical ''Funny Face (musical), Funny Face'' in 1927. History According to Ira Gershwin in his book ''Lyrics on Seve ...
'', from the same year '' Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison'', and 2000's '' The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998'', all of which found Morrison paying tribute to his early musical influences. In 1997, Morrison released '' The Healing Game''. The album received mixed reviews, with the lyrics being described as "tired" and "dull",Rogan (2006), page 450. though critic Greil Marcus praised the musical complexity of the album by saying: "It carries the listener into a musical home so perfect and complete he or she might have forgotten that music could call up such a place, and then populate it with people, acts, wishes, fears."Marcus (2010), page 111. The following year, Morrison finally released some of his previously unissued studio recordings in a two-disc set, '' The Philosopher's Stone''. His next release, 1999's '' Back on Top'', achieved modest success, being his highest-charting album in the US since 1978's ''
Wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...
''.


''Down the Road'' to ''Keep It Simple'': 2000–2009

Van Morrison continued to record and tour in the 2000s, often performing two or three times a week. He formed his own independent label, Exile Productions Ltd, which enables him to maintain full production control of each album he records, which he then delivers as a finished product to the recording label that he chooses, for marketing and distribution.Collis (1996), page 181. In 2001, nine months into a tour with Linda Gail Lewis promoting their collaboration '' You Win Again'', Lewis left the tour, later filing claims against Morrison for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination. Both claims were later withdrawn, and Morrison's solicitor said, "(Mr Morrison's) pleased that these claims have finally been withdrawn. He accepted a full apology and comprehensive retraction which represents a complete vindication of his stance from the outset. Miss Lewis has given a full and categorical apology and retraction to Mr Morrison." Lewis' legal representative Christine Thompson said both parties had agreed to the terms of the settlement. The album '' Down the Road'', released in May 2002, received a good critical reception and proved to be his highest-charting album in the US since 1972's ''Saint Dominic's Preview''. It had a nostalgic tone, with its fifteen tracks representing the various musical genres Morrison had previously covered—including R&B, blues, country and folk; one of the tracks was written as a tribute to his late father George, who had played a pivotal role in nurturing his early musical tastes. Morrison's 2005 album, '' Magic Time'', debuted at number twenty-five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 charts upon its May release, some forty years after Morrison first entered the public's eye as the frontman of Them. ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as number seventeen on ''The Top 50 Records of 2005''. Also in July 2005, Morrison was named by
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
as one of their top twenty-five all-time best-selling artists and inducted into the Amazon.com Hall of Fame. Later in the year, Morrison also donated a previously unreleased studio track to a charity album, '' Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now'', which raised money for relief efforts intended for
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...
victims devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Morrison composed the song, "Blue and Green", featuring Foggy Lyttle on guitar. This song was released in 2007 on the album, '' The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3'' and also as a single in the UK. Van Morrison was a headline act at the international Celtic music festival, The Hebridean Celtic Festival in
Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...
, Outer Hebrides in the summer of 2005. He released an album with a country music theme, entitled '' Pay the Devil'', on 7 March 2006 and appeared at the
Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (originally Union Gospel Tabernacle and renamed Grand Ole Opry House for a period) is a historic 2,362-seat live-performance venue and museum located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in the downtown core of Nashville, Tennesse ...
, where the tickets sold out immediately after they went on sale. ''Pay the Devil'' debuted at number twenty-six on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number seven on Top Country Albums. Amazon Best of 2006 Editor's Picks in Country listed the country album at number ten in December 2006. Still promoting the country album, Morrison's performance as the headline act on the first night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on 15 September 2006 was reviewed by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as one of the top ten shows of the 2006 festival. In November 2006, a limited edition album, '' Live at Austin City Limits Festival'', was issued by Exile Productions, Ltd. A later deluxe CD/DVD release of ''Pay the Devil'', in the summer of 2006, contained tracks from the Ryman performance. In October 2006, Morrison had released his first commercial DVD, '' Live at Montreux 1980/1974'', with concerts taken from two separate appearances at the
Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...
. A new double CD
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
, '' The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3'', was released in June 2007 containing thirty-one tracks, some of which were previously unreleased. Morrison selected the tracks, which ranged from the 1993 album ''Too Long in Exile'' to the song " Stranded" from the 2005 album ''Magic Time''. On 3 September 2007, Morrison's complete catalogue of albums from 1971 through 2002 were made available exclusively at the iTunes Store in Europe and Australia and during the first week of October 2007, the albums became available at the US iTunes Store. '' Still on Top – The Greatest Hits'', a thirty-seven-track double CD compilation album, was released on 22 October 2007 in the UK on the Polydor label. On 29 October 2007, the album charted at number two on the Official UK Top 75 Albums—his highest UK charting. The November release in the US and Canada contains twenty-one selected tracks. The hits released on albums with the copyrights owned by Morrison as Exile Productions Ltd.—1971 and later—had been remastered in 2007. '' Keep It Simple'', Morrison's 33rd studio album of completely new material, was released by Exile/Polydor Records on 17 March 2008 in the UK and released by Exile/
Lost Highway Records Lost Highway Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. Formed by Luke Lewis in 2000, Lost Highway Records operates as a country music label, based out of Nashville, but the label also issues music by alternative rock and alternativ ...
in the US and Canada on 1 April 2008. It comprised eleven self-penned tracks. Morrison promoted the album with a short US tour including an appearance at the
SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
music conference, and a UK concert broadcast on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
. In the first week of release ''Keep It Simple'' debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number ten, Morrison's first Top Ten charting in the US.


''Born to Sing'' to ''Three Chords'': 2010–2020

Morrison released two albums in the first half of the decade, followed by a further six in just five years, his productivity increasing noticeably as he turned 70. '' Born to Sing: No Plan B'' was released on 2 October 2012 on
Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...
. The album was recorded in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, Morrison's birthplace and hometown. The first single from this album, "Open the Door (To Your Heart)", was released on 24 August 2012. A selection of Morrison's lyrics, ''Lit Up Inside'', was published by City Lights Books in the US and
Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
in the UK. The book was released on 2 October 2014 and an evening of words and music commenced at the Lyric Theatre, London on 17 November 2014 to mark its launch. Morrison himself selected his best and most iconic lyrics from a catalog of 50 years of writing. In 2015, Morrison sold the rights to most of his catalogue to
Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2 ...
, the catalog division of
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
. This resulted in 33 of his albums being made available as digital releases and through all streaming services for the first time that August. His first album recorded with Sony under the new contract was '' Duets: Re-working the Catalogue'', released on 24 March 2015 on the subsidiary,
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
. Morrison's 70th birthday in 2015 was marked by celebrations in his hometown of Belfast, commencing with
BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...
presenting programs including "Top 70 Van Tracks" between 26 and 28 August. As the headline act ending the Eastside Arts Festival, Morrison performed two 70th-birthday concerts on Cyprus Avenue on his birthday 31 August. The first of the concerts was broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster and a 60-minute BBC film of highlights from the concerts, entitled ''Up On Cyprus Avenue'', was first shown on 4 September. The following year, on 30 September, Morrison released '' Keep Me Singing'', his 36th studio album. "Too Late", the first single, was released on the same day. The songs are twelve originals and one cover and the album represents his first release of originals since ''Born to Sing: No Plan B'' in 2012. A short tour of the U.S. followed with six dates in October 2016, followed by a short tour of the U.K. with eight dates in October—December 2016, including a London show at ''
The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
'' on 30 October. The U.S. tour resumed in January 2017 with five new dates in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and
Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and north of St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies T ...
. Morrison's album '' Roll with the Punches'' was released on 22 September 2017. That July, he and Universal Music Group were sued by former professional wrestler Billy Two Rivers for using his likeness on its cover and promotional material without his permission. On 4 August, Two Rivers' lawyer said the parties had reached a preliminary agreement to settle the matter out of court. He released his 38th studio album, '' Versatile'', on 1 December 2017. It features covers of nine classic jazz standards and seven original songs including his arrangement of the traditional "Skye Boat Song". He quickly followed up with his 39th studio album, '' You're Driving Me Crazy'', released on 27 April 2018 via Sony Legacy Recordings. The album features a collaboration with Joey DeFrancesco on a mixture of blues and jazz classics that include eight Morrison originals from his back catalogue. In October 2018, Morrison announced that his 40th studio album, ''
The Prophet Speaks ''The Prophet Speaks'' is the 40th studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and the second to feature jazz organist and trumpeter Joey DeFrancesco. Released on 7 December 2018 by Exile Productions and Caroline Records, it wa ...
'', would be released by Caroline International on 7 December 2018. A year later, in November 2019, he released his 41st studio album, '' Three Chords & the Truth''. On 5 March 2020
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
published ''Keep 'Er Lit'', the second volume of Van Morrison's selected lyrics. It features a foreword of fellow poet Paul Muldoon and comprehends 120 songs from across his career. In November 2020 Morrison and
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
collaborated on a single called "Stand and Deliver", whose profits from sales will be donated to Morrison's Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund.


Coronavirus controversy

During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Morrison made numerous statements against social distancing measures that affected live music events, and made calls to "fight pseudo-science". Continuing with this narrative, Morrison released three new songs in September 2020, which had messages of protest against
COVID-19 lockdowns During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...
in the UK. Morrison accused the UK government of "taking our freedom". He had performed socially distanced concerts previously, but said that the shows were not a sign of "compliance". There were calls in Belfast for Belfast City Council to revoke his Freedom of the City honour following the statements: city councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown said that his lyrics were "undermining the guidance in place to protect lives and are ignorant of established science as we grapple with Covid-19." Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann accused Morrison of smearing public health practitioners and called Morrison's anti-lockdown songs "dangerous". In November 2021, Swann sued Morrison for
defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
, after he said that Swann was a "fraud" and "very dangerous". In 2022, Morrison issued legal proceedings against Swann over an opinion piece in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine that was critical of Morrison's anti-lockdown songs and actions. Both legal claims were settled confidentially shortly before their respective court proceedings were to begin in September 2024.


2020s

In March 2021, Morrison announced that his 42nd album, '' Latest Record Project, Volume 1'', would be released by Exile Productions and BMG on 7 May. The 28-track album includes songs such as "Why Are You on Facebook?", "They Own The Media" and "Western Man". In addition to digitally, it was released as a 2-CD set and on triple vinyl. The album marked a return to the UK Top Ten for Morrison, making the 2020s the fourth consecutive decade in which he has achieved such success. The following year, '' What's It Gonna Take?'' explored many of the same themes, but was less successful commercially. In 2023, he returned to his roots with '' Moving on Skiffle'' and '' Accentuate the Positive''. He also issued archival material via his own direct-to-consumer label Orangefield Records, beginning with ''Beyond Words: Instrumental'' and continuing in 2024 with ''Live at Orangefield'', taken from a run of 2014 concerts at his former secondary school. His 2024 studio album ''New Arrangements and Duets'' also compiled unreleased material, including big band reworkings of songs from his catalogue and duets with Kurt Elling,
Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...
,
Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
and
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
recorded between 2014 and 2019. Van Morrison's songs were used extensively in
Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...
's Oscar-winning 2021 film ''
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
'': Morrison received his first nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...
for "Down to Joy". Several tracks were also featured in ''
Cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
'', released the same year. "Down to Joy" would not be released on a Van Morrison album until 2025, when it became the lead single from ''Remembering Now'', his first album of original material since 2022.


Live performances


1970s

By 1972, after being a performer for nearly ten years, Morrison began experiencing
stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia that may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...
when performing for audiences of thousands, as opposed to the hundreds he had experienced in his early career. He became anxious on stage and had difficulty establishing eye contact with the audience. He once said in an interview about performing on stage, "I dig singing the songs but there are times when it's pretty agonising for me to be out there." After a brief break from music, he started appearing in clubs, regaining his ability to perform live, albeit with smaller audiences. The 1974 live double album ''
It's Too Late to Stop Now ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'' is a 1974 live double album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It features performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, ...
'' has been called one of the greatest recordings of a live concert and has appeared on lists of greatest live albums of all time. Biographer
Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...
wrote, "Morrison was in the midst of what was arguably his greatest phase as a performer." Performances on the album were from tapes made during a three-month tour of the US and Europe in 1973 with the backing group the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. Soon after recording the album, Morrison restructured the Caledonia Soul Orchestra into a smaller unit, the Caledonia Soul Express.Heylin (2003), page 284. On
Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
1976, Morrison performed at the farewell concert for
the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
. It was his first live performance in several years, and he considered skipping his appearance until the last minute, even refusing to go on stage when they announced his name. His manager, Harvey Goldsmith, said he "literally kicked him out there."Heylin (2003), page 313. Morrison was on good terms with the members of the Band as near-neighbours in
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
, and they had the shared experience of stage fright. At the concert, he performed two songs. His first was a rendition of the classic Irish song " Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral". His second song was "
Caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...
", from his 1970 album ''Moondance''.
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
, in attendance at the concert, wrote: "Van Morrison turned the show around ... singing to the rafters and ... burning holes in the floor. It was a triumph, and as the song ended Van began to kick his leg into the air out of sheer exuberance and he kicked his way right offstage like a Rockette. The crowd had given him a fine welcome and they cheered wildly when he left."''Rolling Stone'': "That Train Don't Stop Here Anymore." Greil Marcus. 30 December 1976 The filmed concert served as the basis for
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's 1978 film, ''
The Last Waltz ''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group the Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as the Band's "farewell concert a ...
''. During his association with the Band, Morrison acquired the nicknames "Belfast Cowboy" and "Van the Man". On the Band's album '' Cahoots'', as part of the duet "4% Pantomime" that Morrison sings with
Richard Manuel Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in the Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of F ...
(and that he co-wrote with
Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...
), Manuel addresses him, "Oh, Belfast Cowboy". When he leaves the stage after performing "Caravan" on ''The Last Waltz'', Robertson calls out "Van the Man!"


1990s

On 21 July 1990, Morrison joined many other guests for
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
' massive performance of '' The Wall – Live in Berlin''. He sang "
Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...
" with Roger Waters and several members from The Band:
Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Hel ...
,
Garth Hudson Eric Garth Hudson (August 2, 1937 – January 21, 2025) was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for The Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the mo ...
and Rick Danko. At the concert's end, he and the other performers sang " The Tide Is Turning". The live audience was estimated at between three hundred thousand and half a million people, and it was broadcast live on television as well. Morrison performed before an estimated audience of sixty to eighty thousand people when US President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
visited Belfast, Northern Ireland on 30 November 1995. His song " Days Like This" had become the official
anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...
for the Northern Irish peace movement.Rogan (2006), page 437.


2000s and live albums

Van Morrison continued performing concerts throughout the year, rather than touring. Playing few of his best-known songs in concert, he has firmly resisted relegation to a nostalgia act. During a 2006 interview, he told Paul Sexton: On 7 and 8 November 2008, at the
Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
in Los Angeles, California, Morrison performed the entire ''Astral Weeks'' album live for the first time. The ''Astral Weeks'' band featured guitarist Jay Berliner, who had played on the album that was released forty years previously in November 1968. Also featured on piano was
Roger Kellaway Roger Kellaway (born November 1, 1939) is an American composer, arranger and jazz pianist who has recorded over 250 albums, and composed over 20 film scores Life and career Kellaway was born in Waban, Massachusetts, United States. He is an alum ...
. A live album entitled '' Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' resulted from these two performances. The new live album on CD was released on 24 February 2009, followed by a DVD from the performances. The DVD, '' Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl: The Concert Film'' was released via Amazon Exclusive on 19 May 2009. In February and March 2009, Morrison returned to the US for ''Astral Weeks Live'' concerts, interviews and TV appearances with concerts at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
and at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. He was interviewed by
Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...
on his '' Imus in the Morning'' radio show and put in guest appearances on ''
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,
'' and '' Live with Regis and Kelly''. Morrison continued with the ''Astral Weeks'' performances with two concerts at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
in London in April and then returned to California in May 2009 performing the ''Astral Weeks'' songs at the Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley, the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California and appeared on ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...
''. Morrison filmed the concerts at the Orpheum Theatre so they could be viewed by
Farrah Fawcett Farrah Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a ...
, confined to bed with cancer and thus unable to attend the concerts. In addition to ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'' and ''Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl'', Morrison has released three other live albums: '' Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast'' in 1984; '' A Night in San Francisco'' in 1994 that ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine felt stood out as: "the culmination of a career's worth of soul searching that finds Morrison's eyes turned toward heaven and his feet planted firmly on the ground"; and '' The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998'' recorded with
Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...
and
Chris Barber Donald Christopher Barber (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and Trombone, trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fleur ...
and released in 2000. Morrison was scheduled to perform at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
's 25th anniversary concert on 30 October 2009, but cancelled. In an interview on 26 October, Morrison told his host,
Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...
, he had planned to play "a couple of songs" with
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
(who had cancelled on 22 October due to
gallstone A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of ...
surgery), and they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".


2010s to present

Morrison performed for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 4 August 2010 as the headline act for the fundraiser and was scheduled as second-day headliner at the Feis 2011 Festival in London's
Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in Harringay, north London, England. The park lies on the southern-most edge of the London Borough of Haringey. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal ...
on 19 June 2011. He appeared in concert at Odyssey Arena in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
on 3 February and at
the O2 The O2 (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, Town square, piazzas, ...
in Dublin on 4 February 2012. He appeared at the 46th
Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...
as a headliner on 7 July 2012. In 2014, Morrison's former high school Orangefield High School, formerly known as Orangefield Boys' Secondary School closed its doors permanently. To mark the school's closure Morrison performed in the school assembly hall for three nights of concerts from 22 to 24 August. The performance on 22 August was exclusively for former teachers and pupils and the two remaining concerts were for members of the public The first night of the Nocturne Live concerts at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, UK on 25 June 2015, featured Morrison and Grammy Award-winning American Jazz vocalist and songwriter Gregory Porter. In June 2021, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' noted that "fittingly for someone who has been so vocally opposed to the lockdown" resulting from the 2020–2021 coronavirus pandemic, "Van Morrison played one of the first big-scale concerts in London since events, albeit tentatively, started up again."
Will Hodgkinson Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne), England. He is the chief rock and pop critic for ''The Times'' newspaper and contributes to ''Mojo (magazine), Mojo'' magazine. He has written for ''The Guardian ...
wrote that the show "was as good an argument for the return of live music as you could wish for."


Collaborations

Van Morrison has collaborated extensively with a variety of artists throughout his career. He has worked with many legends in soul and blues, including
John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
,
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
,
George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...
,
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
, Bobby Womack, and BB King, along with
The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...
, Gregory Porter,
Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...
,
Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
,
Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...
and
Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...
.


1980s

Morrison and the internationally renowned Irish folk band The Chieftains recorded the album '' Irish Heartbeat'' (1988). Consisting of Irish folk songs, it entered the UK Top 20. " Whenever God Shines His Light", on '' Avalon Sunset'' (1989), is a duet with
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
, which charted at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 on the
Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...
.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
critic Jason Ankeny found it to be a "standout opener" on the album. For critic Patrick Humphries, it was "the most manifest example of Morrison's Christian commitment," and while "not one of Morrison's most outstanding songs" it works as "a testament of faith".


1990s

The decade saw an upsurge in Van Morrison's collaborations. He developed a close association with two vocal talents at opposite ends of their careers:
Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...
(with whom Morrison had already worked occasionally) lent his voice and Hammond organ skills to Morrison's band; and Brian Kennedy's vocals complemented the grizzled voice of Morrison, both in studio and live performances. He reunited with The Chieftains on their 1995 album, '' The Long Black Veil'', with a reworking of Morrison's song " Have I Told You Lately" winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. He produced, and was featured on, several tracks with blues legend John Lee Hooker on Hooker's 1997 album, '' Don't Look Back''. This album won a Grammy Award for
Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award ...
in 1998, and the title track " Don't Look Back", a duet with Morrison, took the Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The project capped a series of Morrison and Hooker collaborations that began in 1971 when they performed a duet on the title track of Hooker's 1972 album '' Never Get Out of These Blues Alive''. On this album, Hooker also recorded a cover of Morrison's " T.B. Sheets". Morrison collaborated with Tom Jones on his 1999 album '' Reload'', when the pair sang on Morrison's song, " Sometimes We Cry".


2000s to present

Morrison delivered vocals on "The Last Laugh" on
Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...
's ''
Sailing to Philadelphia ''Sailing to Philadelphia'' is the second solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 25 September 2000 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album c ...
'' (2000), and that year also recorded a classic country music duet album, '' You Win Again'' with Linda Gail Lewis. The album received a three-star review from AllMusic, who called it "a roots effort that never sounds studied". In 2004, Morrison was one of the guests on Ray Charles' album '' Genius Loves Company''. The pair performed Morrison's " Crazy Love". In 2015 he recorded an album of collaborations, Duets: Re-working the Catalogue, which featured, among others,
Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...
,
Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...
,
Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel singer and civil rights activism, activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving memb ...
,
Mick Hucknall Michael James Hucknall (born 8 June 1960) is an English singer and songwriter. Hucknall achieved international fame in the 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter of the soul-influenced pop band Simply Red, with whom he enjoyed a 25-year caree ...
, and Morrison's daughter Shana Morrison. Morrison also developed a partnership with Joey DeFrancesco, with the pair collaborating on a number of albums. During the COVID pandemic Morrison recorded tracks with
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
criticizing 'harm-reduction' measures.


Artistry


Vocals

Featuring his characteristic growl—a mix of
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
,
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
,
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
,
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
, and
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
influences—Morrison is widely considered by many rock historians to be one of the most unusual and influential vocalists in the history of
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
. Critic
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
has said "no white man sings like Van Morrison." In his 2010 book, Marcus wrote, "As a physical fact, Morrison may have the richest and most expressive voice pop music has produced since
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
, and with a sense of himself as an artist that Elvis was always denied." As Morrison began live performances of the 40-year-old album ''Astral Weeks'' in 2008, there were comparisons to his youthful voice of 1968. His early voice was described as "flinty and tender, beseeching and plaintive". Forty years later, the difference in his vocal range and power were noticeable but reviewers and critic's comments were favourable: "Morrison's voice has expanded to fill his frame; a deeper, louder roar than the blue-eyed soul voice of his youth—softer on the diction—but none the less impressively powerful." Morrison also commented on the changes in his approach to singing: "The approach now is to sing from lower down he diaphragmso I do not ruin my voice. Before, I sang in the upper area of my throat, which tends to wreck the vocal cords over time. Singing from lower in the belly allows my resonance to carry far. I can stand four feet from a mic and be heard quite resonantly."Neil, Chris, ''Performing Songwriter'', Issue 116, March/April 2009, Pages 44–50


Songwriting and lyrics

Morrison has written hundreds of songs during his career with a recurring theme reflecting a nostalgic yearning for the carefree days of his childhood in Belfast. Some of his song titles derive from familiar locations in his childhood, such as " Cyprus Avenue" (a nearby street), " Orangefield" (the boys' school he attended), and "On Hyndford Street" (where he was born). Also frequently present in Morrison's best love songs is a blending of the sacred-profane as evidenced in " Into the Mystic" and "So Quiet in Here".Hinton (1997), page 13. Beginning with his 1979 album, '' Into the Music'', and the song " And the Healing Has Begun", a frequent theme of his music and lyrics has been based on his belief in the healing power of music combined with a form of mystic Christianity. This theme has become one of the predominant qualities of his work.Collis (1996), page 149. His lyrics show the influence of the visionary poets
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
and
W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...
Hinton (1997), page 12. and others such as
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
and
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...
.Turner (1993), page 145 Biographer Brian Hinton believes "like any great poet from Blake to
Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...
he takes words back to their origins in magic ... Indeed, Morrison is returning poetry to its earliest roots—as in
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
or Old English epics like
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...
or the Psalms or folk song—in all of which words and music combine to form a new reality." Another biographer, John Collis, believes Morrison's style of jazz singing and repeating phrases preclude his lyrics from being regarded as poetry or as Collis asserts: "he is more likely to repeat a phrase like a mantra, or burst into scat singing. The words may often be prosaic, and so can hardly be poetry."Collis (1996), page 10. Morrison has described his songwriting method by remarking: "I write from a different place. I do not even know what it is called or if it has a name. It just comes and I sculpt it, but it is also a lot of hard work doing the sculpting."


Performance style

Critic
Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biogra ...
argues that, given the truly distinctive breadth and complexity of Morrison's work, it is almost impossible to cast his work among that of others: "Morrison remains a singer who can be compared to no other in the history of rock & roll, a singer who cannot be pinned down, dismissed, or fitted into anyone's expectations."Marcus (1992), page 447. Or in the words of
Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.R&B, Celtic melodies, jazz, rave-up rock, hymns, down-and-dirty blues—he can unfailingly be found in the same strange place: on his own wavelength." His spiritually themed style of music first came into full expression with '' Astral Weeks'' in 1968 and he was noted to have remained a "master of his transcendental craft" in 2009 while performing the ''Astral Weeks'' songs live. This musical art form was based on stream of consciousness songwriting and emotional vocalising of lyrics that have no basis in normal structure or symmetry. His live performances are dependent on building dynamics with spontaneity between himself and his band, whom he controls with hand gestures throughout, sometimes signalling impromptu solos from a selected band member. The music and vocals build towards a hypnotic and trance-like state that depends on in-the-moment creativity. Scott Foundas with ''
LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
'' wrote "he seeks to transcend the apparent boundaries of any given song; to achieve a total freedom of form; to take himself, his band and the audience on a journey whose destination is anything but known." Greil Marcus wrote an entire book devoted to examining the moments in Morrison's music where he reaches this state of transcendence and explains: "But in his music the same sense of escape from ordinary limits—a reach for, or the achievement of, a kind of violent transcendence—can come from hesitations, repetitions of words or phrases, pauses, the way a musical change by another musician is turned by Morrison as a bandleader or seized on by him as a singer and changed into a sound that becomes an event in and of itself. In these moments, the self is left behind, and the sound, that "yarragh," becomes the active agent: a musical person, with its own mind, its own body." A book reviewer further described it as "This transcendent moment of music when the song and the singer are one thing not two, neither dependent on the other or separate from the other but melded to the other like one, like breath and life ..." Morrison has said he believes in the
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...
technique of never performing a song the same way twice and except for the unique rendition of the ''Astral Weeks'' songs live, doesn't perform a concert from a preconceived set list. Morrison has said he prefers to perform at smaller venues or symphony halls noted for their good
acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
. His ban against alcoholic beverages, which made entertainment news during 2008, was an attempt to prevent the disruptive and distracting movement of audience members leaving their seats during the performances. In a 2009 interview, Morrison stated: "I do not consciously aim to take the listener anywhere. If anything, I aim to take myself there in my music. If the listener catches the wavelength of what I am saying or singing, or gets whatever point whatever line means to them, then I guess as a writer I may have done a day's work."


Genre

The music of Van Morrison has encompassed many genres since his early days as a
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
and R&B singer in Belfast. Over the years he has recorded songs from a varying list of genres drawn from many influences and interests. As well as blues and R&B, his compositions and covers have moved between pop music,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, rock,
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
,
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
, Irish folk and
traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
,
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
,
skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...
,
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
,
new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
, classical and sometimes
spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
("
Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...
") and
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
s.Hinton (1997), page 15. Morrison defines himself as a soul singer. Morrison's music has been described by music journalist
Alan Light Alan Light (born August 4, 1966) is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for ''Rolling Stone'' and the editor-in-chief for '' Vibe,'' '' Spin,'' and ''Tracks''. Early life Light grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Cincin ...
as "Celtic soul", or what biographer Brian Hinton referred to as a new alchemy called "Caledonian soul." Another biographer, Ritchie Yorke quoted Morrison as believing that he has "the spirit of Caledonia in his soul and his music reflects it."Yorke (1975), page 159. According to Yorke, Morrison claimed to have discovered "a certain quality of soul" when he first visited Scotland (his Belfast ancestors were of
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...
descent) and Morrison has said he believes there is some connection between soul music and Caledonia. Yorke said Morrison "discovered several years after he first began composing music that some of his songs lent themselves to a unique major modal scale (without sevenths) which of course is the same scale as that used by
bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...
players and old Irish and Scottish folk music."


'Caledonia' theme

The name "
Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...
" has played a prominent role in Morrison's life and career. Biographer Ritchie Yorke had pointed out already by 1975 that Morrison has referred to Caledonia so many times in his career that he "seems to be obsessed with the word". In his 2009 biography, Erik Hage found "Morrison seemed deeply interested in his paternal Scottish roots during his early career, and later in the ancient countryside of England, hence his repeated use of the term ''Caledonia'' (an ancient Roman name for Scotland/northern Britain)". As well as being his daughter Shana's middle name, it is the name of his first production company, his studio, his publishing company, two of his backing groups, his parents' record store in Fairfax, California in the 1970s, and he also recorded a cover of the song " Caldonia" (with the name spelt "Caledonia") in 1974. Morrison used "Caledonia" in what has been called a quintessential Van Morrison moment in the song, " Listen to the Lion" with the lyrics, "And we sail, and we sail, way up to Caledonia". Morrison used "Caledonia" as a
mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...
in the live performance of the song " Astral Weeks" recorded at the two
Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
concerts. As late as 2016's '' Keep Me Singing'' album, he recorded a self-penned instrumental entitled "Caledonia Swing."


Influence

Morrison's influence can readily be heard in the music of a diverse array of major artists. According to ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll'' (Simon & Schuster, 2001), "his influence among rock singers/song writers is unrivaled by any living artist outside of that other prickly legend,
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
. Echoes of Morrison's rugged literateness and his gruff, feverish emotive vocals can be heard in latter day icons ranging from
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
to
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...
". He has influenced an array of top tier performers, including U2, with
Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...
recalling, "I am in awe of a musician like Van Morrison. I had to stop listening to Van Morrison records about six months before we made ''
The Unforgettable Fire ''The Unforgettable Fire'' is the fourth studio album by Irish rock music, rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and released on 1 October 1984 by Island Records. The band wanted to pursue a new musical direction followi ...
'' because I didn't want his very original soul voice to overpower my own". He has inspired
John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...
(" Wild Night");
Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...
; Joan Armatrading (the only musical influence she will acknowledge);
Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
;
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
;
Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...
;
Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...
(recognises both
Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...
and Van Morrison as the main influences on her career);
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
; Graham Parker;
Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...
;
Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...
of
Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...
;
Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...
("I know Bruce Springsteen was very much affected by Van Morrison, and so was I") Kevin Rowland of
Dexys Midnight Runners Dexys (known as Dexys Midnight Runners from 1978 to 2011) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul music, soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid- 1980s. They are best known in the UK for their ...
(" Jackie Wilson Said");
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
(" Gloria");
Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a cult following in the early 1990s performing at venues in ...
(" The Way Young Lovers Do", " Sweet Thing"); Nick Drake;Moon (2008), page 238. and numerous others, including Counting Crows (their "sha-la-la" sequence in ''Mr Jones'' is a tribute to Morrison). Morrison's influence reaches into the country music genre, with
Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953 – November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point ...
acknowledging, "He (Van Morrison) was a major influence in my life."
Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. ( Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the rock band the Doors, co-founding the group in 1965 with fellow UCLA School of Theater, Film and Te ...
of the Doors described Van Morrison as "our he Doorsfavourite singer". Morrison has typically been supportive of other artists, often willingly sharing the stage with them during his concerts. On the live album '' A Night in San Francisco'', he had as his special guests, among others, his childhood idols:
Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...
,
John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
and
Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr.; December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...
. Although he often expresses his displeasure (in interviews and songs) with the music industry and the media in general, he has been instrumental in promoting the careers of many other musicians and singers, such as James Hunter, and fellow Belfast-born brothers
Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...
and
Bap Kennedy Martin Christopher Kennedy (17 June 1962 – 1 November 2016), known as Bap Kennedy, was a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was noted for his collaborations with Steve Earle, Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Mark Knopfler, as ...
. He has also influenced the visual arts: the German painter Johannes Heisig created a series of lithographs illustrating the book ''In the Garden – for Van Morrison'', published by Städtische Galerie
Sonneberg Sonneberg () in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home ...
, Germany, in 1997.


Next generation

Morrison's influence on a younger generation of singer-songwriters is pervasive. The list of such singer-songwriters influenced by Morrison includes Irish singer
Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper (band), Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate succe ...
, who has been described as on his way to becoming the "natural heir to Van Morrison";
Ray Lamontagne Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne (; born June 18, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released nine studio albums: '' Trouble'', ''Till the Sun Turns Black'', '' Gossip in the Grain'', '' God Willin' & the Creek Don ...
; James Morrison;
Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-u ...
; Eric Lindell David Gray and
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
are also several of the younger artists influenced by Morrison.
Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten o ...
of the Irish rock band
the Frames The Frames are an Irish rock band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six studio albums. In addition to Hansard, the band's current line-up inc ...
(who lists Van Morrison as being part of his holy trinity with Bob Dylan and
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
) commonly covers his songs in concert. American rock band
the Wallflowers The Wallflowers are an American rock music, rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. It ha ...
have covered " Into the Mystic". Canadian blues-rock singer Colin James also covers the song frequently at his concerts. Actor and musician
Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. #Filmography, His filmography often sees him portraying eccentric characters across a diverse range of genres. Known for starring in both major studio productions and in ...
has said Van Morrison was his "influence for doing music in the first place". Morrison has shared the stage with Northern Irish singer-songwriter Duke Special, who admits Morrison has been a big influence.


Recognition and legacy

Morrison has received several major music awards in his career, including two
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
, with five additional nominations (1982–2004); inductions into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
(January 1993), the
Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...
(June 2003), and the Irish Music Hall of Fame (September 1999); and a Brit Award (February 1994). In addition, he has received civil awards: an OBE (June 1996) and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1996). He has honorary doctorates from the
University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...
(1992) and from
Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
(July 2001).


Halls of Fame

The Hall of Fame inductions began in 1993 with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Morrison was the first living inductee not to attend his own
ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...
,Rogan (2006), page 411.
Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...
from
the Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
accepted the award on his behalf.Turner (1993), page 177. When Morrison became the initial musician inducted into the Irish Music Hall of Fame,
Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...
presented Morrison with the award. Morrison's third induction was into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...
for "recognition of his unique position as one of the most important songwriters of the past century".
Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
presented the award, following a performance during which the pair performed Morrison's " Crazy Love" from the album ''Moondance''. Morrison's BRIT Award was for his ''Outstanding Contribution to British Music''. Former Beirut hostage John McCarthy presented the award; while testifying to the importance of Morrison's song " Wonderful Remark.” McCarthy called it "a song ... which was very important to us."Rogan (2006), page 419. Three of Morrison's songs appear in
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
: " Brown Eyed Girl", " Madame George" and "
Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album '' Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morr ...
". The Songwriter's Hall of Fame awarded Morrison the Johnny Mercer Award on 18 June 2015 at their 46th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner in New York City.


Civil awards and honours

Morrison received two civil awards in 1996: he was appointed Officer of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
for services to music,Rogan (2006), page 443. and was also recognized with an award from the French government which made him an ''Officier de l'
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
''. Along with these state awards he has two honorary degrees in music: an honorary doctorate in literature from the
University of Ulster Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...
,Rogan (2006), page 409. and an honorary doctorate in music from Queen's University in his hometown of Belfast. In 2013, Morrison was awarded the Freedom of Belfast, the highest honour the city can bestow. On 15 November 2013, Morrison became the 79th recipient of the award, presented at the Waterfront Hall for his career achievements. After receiving the award, he performed a free concert for residents who won tickets from a lottery system. In August 2014, a "Van Morrison Trail" was established in East Belfast by Morrison in partnership with the Connswater Community Greenway. It is a self-guided trail, which over the course of leads to eight places that were important to Morrison and inspirational to his music. Morrison was made a
Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...
in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015 for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. The ceremony was performed by
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
.


Industry recognition

Other awards include an
Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...
for Lifetime Achievement in 1995, the BMI ICON award in October 2004 for Morrison's "enduring influence on generations of music makers", and an ''Oscar Wilde: Honouring Irish Writing in Film'' award in 2007 for his contribution to over fifty films, presented by
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino ( ; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his intense performances on stage and screen, Pacino is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. His career spans more than five decades, duri ...
, who compared Morrison to
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
– both "visionaries who push boundaries". He was voted the Best International Male Singer of 2007 at the inaugural International Awards in Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London. In 2010, Morrison was given a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
. On 2 September 2014, Morrison was presented with the ''Legend'' award at the '' GQ'' Men of the Year ceremony at
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
in London. On 13 October 2014, Morrison received his fifth BMI Million-Air Award for 11 million radio plays of the song "Brown Eyed Girl", making it one of the Top 10 Songs of all time on US radio and television. Morrison has also received Million-Air awards for "Have I Told You Lately". In 2017, the Americana Music Association gave Van Morrison the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting. Morrison was chosen to be honoured by Michael Dorf at his annual charity concert at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
. The Music of Van Morrison was performed on 21 March 2019 by twenty musical acts including
Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten o ...
,
Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
and
Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette (born Betty Jo Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album '' I've Got My Own Hell to Raise'' was released to widespre ...
. In 2019, Morrison received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
presented by
Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
during the International Achievement Summit in New York City. In 2022, Morrison and his song "Down to Joy" for "
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
" were nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...
at the
94th Academy Awards The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after their usual late February dat ...
.


Lists

Morrison has also appeared in a number of "Greatest" lists, including the ''
TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine list of The All-Time 100 Albums, which contained ''Astral Weeks'' and ''Moondance'', and he appeared at number thirteen on the list of
WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format sh ...
's 885 All Time Greatest Artists. In 2000, Morrison ranked twenty-fifth on American cable music channel
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's list of its "100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll". In 2004, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine ranked Van Morrison forty-second on their list of " 100 Greatest Artists of All Time". '' Paste'' ranked him twentieth in their list of "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" in 2006. '' Q'' ranked him twenty-second on their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in April 2007 and he was voted twenty-fourth on the November 2008 list of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.


Tribute albums

* '' No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison'' (1994) * ''The Van Morrison Songbook'' (1997) * ''Into the Mystic: An Instrumental Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2000) * '' Vanthology: A Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2003) * ''The String Quartet Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2003) * ''Smooth Sax Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2005) * ''Mystic Piano: Piano Tribute to Van Morrison'' (2006)


Personal life


Family and relationships

Morrison lived in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
from birth until 1964, when he moved to London with the rock group Them. Three years later, he moved to New York after signing with Bang Records. Facing deportation due to visa problems, he managed to stay in the US when his American girlfriend Janet (Planet) Rigsbee, who had a son named Peter from a previous relationship, agreed to marry him.Heylin (2003), page 168. Once married, Morrison and his wife moved to
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
, where he found work performing in local clubs. The couple had one daughter in 1970, Shana Morrison, who has become a singer-songwriter. Morrison and his family moved around America, living in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
;
Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...
; and a hilltop home in
Fairfax, California Fairfax is an List of cities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population w ...
. His wife appeared on the cover of the album ''
Tupelo Honey ''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs in Woodstock, New York, before his move to Marin Count ...
''. They divorced in 1973.Heylin (2003), page 260.Rogan (2006), page 280. Morrison moved back to the UK in the late 1970s, first settling in London's Notting Hill Gate area.Rogan (2006), page 342. Later, he moved to
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
, where he purchased the Wool Hall studio in January 1994.Rogan (2006), page 400. He also has a home in the Irish seaside village of
Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...
near Dublin, where legal actions were taken against Morrison by two neighbours who objected to Morrison attempting to widen his driveway. The case was taken to court in 2001, with the initial rulings going against Morrison. Morrison pursued the matter all the way to the Irish Supreme Court, but his appeal was denied. A separate case in 2010, in which Morrison's then-wife Michelle took legal action against a different neighbour, who was building a balcony that she felt would overlook the Morrison home and intrude on their privacy, was withdrawn in 2015. Morrison met Irish socialite Michelle Rocca in the summer of 1992, and they often featured in the Dublin gossip columns, an unusual event for the reclusive Morrison. Rocca also appeared on one of his album covers, '' Days Like This''. The couple married and have two children; a daughter was born in February 2006 and a son in August 2007. According to a statement posted on his website, they were divorced in March 2018. In December 2009, Morrison's tour manager Gigi Lee gave birth to a son, who she asserted was Morrison's and named after him. Lee announced the birth of the child on Morrison's official website, but Morrison denied paternity. Lee's son died in January 2011 from complications of
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
, and Lee died soon after from throat cancer in October 2011. Morrison's father died in 1988, and his mother, Violet, died in 2016.


Religion and spirituality

Morrison and his family have been affiliated with St Donard's Parish Church, an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
congregation of the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
located in east Belfast. During
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
, the area was described as "militantly
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
", although Morrison's parents have always been freethinkers, with his father openly declaring himself an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and his mother being connected to
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
at one point. Van Morrison was linked to
Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...
for a short time and even thanked its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in one of his songs. Later, he became wary of religion, saying: "I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole." He also said it is important to distinguish
spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
from religion: "Spirituality is one thing, religion ... can mean anything from soup to nuts, you know? But it generally means an organisation, so I don't really like to use the word, because that's what it really means. It really means this church or that church ... but spirituality is different, because that's the individual."


The Troubles

Morrison left Northern Ireland before
The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
started and distanced himself from the conflict, although later "yearned for" Protestant and Catholic reconciliation. In 1972, he gave an interview with the Dublin-based magazine ''Spotlight'', in which he said, "I'm definitely Irish ... I don't think I want to go back to Belfast. I don't miss it with all the prejudice around. We're all the same and I think it's terrible what's happening. But I'd like to get a house in Ireland ... I'd like to spend a few months there every year."Johnny Rogan, ''Van Morrison: No Surrender'' (London: Secker & Warburg, 2005), p. 273.


Discography

* '' Blowin' Your Mind!'' (1967) * '' Astral Weeks'' (1968) * ''
Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album '' Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morr ...
'' (1970) * ''
His Band and the Street Choir ''His Band and the Street Choir'' (also referred to as ''Street Choir'') is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in November 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. Originally titled ''Virgo's Fool'', ' ...
'' (1970) * ''
Tupelo Honey ''Tupelo Honey'' is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs in Woodstock, New York, before his move to Marin Count ...
'' (1971) * ''
Saint Dominic's Preview ''Saint Dominic's Preview'' is the sixth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in July 1972 by Warner Bros. Records. ''Rolling Stone'' declared it "the best-produced, most ambitious Van Morrison record y ...
'' (1972) * '' Hard Nose the Highway'' (1973) * ''
It's Too Late to Stop Now ''It's Too Late to Stop Now'' is a 1974 live double album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It features performances that were recorded in concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, California, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, ...
'' (1974; live) * '' Veedon Fleece'' (1974) * '' A Period of Transition'' (1977) * ''
Wavelength In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...
'' (1978) * '' Into the Music'' (1979) * ''
Common One ''Common One'' is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1980. The album was recorded over a nine-day period at Super Bear Studios, near Nice, on the French Riviera. Its title is in the lyrics of t ...
'' (1980) * '' Beautiful Vision'' (1982) * '' Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'' (1983) * '' A Sense of Wonder'' (1985) * '' No Guru, No Method, No Teacher'' (1986) * '' Poetic Champions Compose'' (1987) * '' Irish Heartbeat'' (In collaboration with
The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...
) (1988)
* '' Avalon Sunset'' (1989) * '' Enlightenment'' (1990) * '' Hymns to the Silence'' (1991) * '' Too Long in Exile'' (1993) * '' A Night in San Francisco'' (1994; live) * '' Days Like This'' (1995) * Don’t Look Back (John Lee Hooker, produced by Van Morrison) (1995) * '' How Long Has This Been Going On'' (1995) * '' Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison'' (1996) * '' The Healing Game'' (1997) * '' Back on Top'' (1999) * '' You Win Again'' (2000) * '' Down the Road'' (2002) * '' What's Wrong with This Picture?'' (2003) * '' Magic Time'' (2005) * '' Pay the Devil'' (2006) * '' Keep It Simple'' (2008) * '' Born to Sing: No Plan B'' (2012) * '' Duets: Re-working the Catalogue'' (2015) * '' Keep Me Singing'' (2016) * '' Roll with the Punches'' (2017) * '' Versatile'' (2017) * '' You're Driving Me Crazy'' (2018) * ''
The Prophet Speaks ''The Prophet Speaks'' is the 40th studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and the second to feature jazz organist and trumpeter Joey DeFrancesco. Released on 7 December 2018 by Exile Productions and Caroline Records, it wa ...
'' (2018) * '' Three Chords & the Truth'' (2019) * '' Latest Record Project, Volume 1'' (2021) * '' What's It Gonna Take?'' (2022) * '' Moving On Skiffle'' (2023) * ''Beyond Words: Instrumental'' (2023) * '' Accentuate the Positive'' (2023) * ''New Arrangements and Duets'' (2024) * '' Remembering Now'' (2025)


See also

* List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland


References


Bibliography

* Collis, John (1996). ''Inarticulate Speech of the Heart'', Little Brown and Company, * Hage, Erik (2009). ''The Words and Music of Van Morrison'', Praeger Publishers, * Heylin, Clinton (2003). ''Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography'', Chicago Review Press, * Hinton, Brian (1997). ''Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison'', Sanctuary, * Marcus, Greil. 1992. "Van Morrison." In: ''The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll''. Anthony DeCurtis and James Henke, with Holly George-Warren, eds. (original ed. Jim Miller): pp442–447. New York: Random House, * Marcus, Greil (2010). ''When That Rough God Goes Riding: Listening to Van Morrison'', Public Affairs, * Moon, Tom (2008). ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die'', Workman Publishing Company, * Rogan, Johnny (2006). '' Van Morrison: No Surrender'', London: Vintage Books * Rosenthal, Elizabeth. (2001) ''His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John'', Billboard Books, * * Turner, Steve (1993). '' Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now'', Viking Penguin, * * Walsh, Ryan H. (2018) ''Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968'',
Penguin Press Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initiall ...
, * Yorke, Ritchie (1975). ''Into The Music'', London: Charisma Books, Further reading * Brooks, Ken (1999). ''In Search of Van Morrison'', Agenda, * Buzacott, Martin; Ford, Andrew (2005) ''Speaking in Tongues: The Songs of Van Morrison'', ABC, * Dawe, Gerald (2007). ''My Mother-City, Belfast'':Lagan Press – (Includes a section on Van Morrison from the previous edition, The Rest is History, Newry: Abbey Press, 1998) * DeWitt, Howard A. (1983). ''Van Morrison: The Mystic's Music'', Horizon Books, * Mills, Peter (2010). '' Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Music and Lyrics of Van Morrison'', Continuum,


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