Celtic Thunder is an Irish singing group and stage show known for its eclectic, theatrical style show. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic set pieces (often invoking symbols of ancient Celtic mythology), visual effects, and highly choreographed staging.
Since the original group's formation in 2007, Celtic Thunder has released twelve albums as well as ten live performances on DVD, three of which were split into two releases.
History
Celtic Thunder was conceived in the mind of producer Sharon Browne (Celtic Collections) who started the group in 2007.
Celtic Thunder debuted in August 2007 at
The Helix in Dublin, Ireland.
They are accompanied by the Celtic Concert Orchestra under the direction of
Phil Coulter
Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009.
Coulter ha ...
, the musical director of the group.
In December 2008, 2009 and 2011, ''Billboard'' magazine named Celtic Thunder Top World Album Artist. Their first three albums also placed in the top 10 for World Albums.
In March 2009, Celtic Thunder opened the
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...
Parade in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
On 28 November 2010, Celtic Thunder member Paul Byrom announced his resignation from the group to begin a solo career. He left the group when the 2010 concert tour was over.
In 2011,
Damian McGinty (the group's youngest member) entered and won the Oxygen reality show ''The Glee Project''. On 21 August 2011, McGinty announced on ''
The Glee Project''s Live Viewing Party, that he would be stepping down from Celtic Thunder due to his new role on ''
Glee
Glee may refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album)
* ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album)
* Gle ...
''. McGinty returned to the group in 2015, and has been on their subsequent albums.
George Donaldson died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on 12 March 2014 in his home in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
.
Celtic Thunder Announces the Passing of Principle Singer George Donaldson
pbs12.org. Retrieved 27th February 2024
Members
Current members
* Neil Byrne
*Emmet Cahill
* Damian McGinty
*Ronan Scolard
Past members
*Paul Byrom
*George Donaldson (died 2014)
* Daniel Furlong
* Keith Harkin
*Colm Keegan
Colm Keegan (born 2 August 1989) is a singer, songwriter and teacher from Dublin, Ireland. He is currently a part time principal singer with Irish music group, Celtic Thunder. He also previously performed with the likes of Celtic Woman, The ...
* Ryan Kelly
*Michael O'Dwyer
*Emmett O'Hanlon
Band
Current Members:
* Seamus Brett – keyboards, piano, assistant musical director
* Daniel Thompson – keyboards
* Kate Knudsvig – violin
* Meabh O’Donnell - pipes, whistles
* AJ Fullerton – guitars
* Tim Philpott - bass
* Forrest Raup – drums
Past Members:
* Muireann Ní She – pipes, whistles
* Alex Goldberg – bass
* Peter Sheridan – keyboards
* Conal Early – guitars
* Seána Davey – harp, concertina
* Charlie Foley – bass
* Nicole Hudson – violin
* Laura Durrant – cello
* Ruth O'Leary ( Sephira) – violin
* Joyce O'Leary ( Sephira) – violin
* David Munro – piano, musical director
* Barry Kerr – pipes, whistles, bodhran, mandolin
* Declan O'Donoghue – percussion
Creative team
* Mark Jones – production director
* David Munro – music director
* Stuart McInnes – front-of-house audio engineer
* Cameron Triplett - monitor engineer
* Jean Clancy – marketing manager
* Declan Browne – online merchandise manager
* Matthew Browne – tour merchandise manager
Discography and videography
Studio albums
In 2015 Legacy re-released the whole Celtic Thunder back-catalogue, including re-releases of ''Celtic Thunder'', ''Celtic Thunder: Act Two'', ''Take Me Home'', ''It's Entertainment!'', ''Christmas'' (with new art work), ''Heritage'', ''Storm'', ''Voyage'', ''New Voyage'' (originally entitled ''Voyage II''), ''Mythology'' and ''The Classic Christmas Album'' (originally entitled ''Holiday Symphony''). Some of the songs originally sung by Paul Byrom got re-recorded by Emmett O'Hanlon or Colm Keegan. All tracklists were revised.
Compilations
Live albums
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Irish Celtic music groups
Irish folk musical groups
Scottish folk music groups
Green Linnet Records artists
2000s in Irish music
2010s in Irish music
2020s in Irish music