The Gig Cartel - Artist profiles: Clannad

CLANNAD

The original Celtic music artist

In a career spanning four decades, Clannad have made music that entwines the traditional and the modern, the past and the future. With their haunting songs, mesmerizing vocals, and captivating sound the group has sold over 15 million records worldwide.

Clannad has won many prestigious awards over the years, including Billboard’s “World Song of the Year” in 1992, a Grammy for “Best New Age Album” in 1999, and they have been the recipients of two “Lifetime Achievement Awards” at home in Ireland.

The acclaimed Irish group consists of family members who began by drawing inspiration from their home in the remote northwest coast of Ireland. Sister Enya Brennan played keyboards for two of their early albums before leaving to pursue her own highly successful solo career.

“Theme from Harry’s Game” was their first big break, topping the charts in Europe and also being used in an American advertising campaign for Volkswagen. They also created the music for the highly popular television series ‘Robin Of Sherwood’, had music featured in movies such as ‘Last of The Mohicans’ and ‘Patriot Games’, and recorded ‘In A Lifetime’ which features a duet with U2’s Bono.

For this close-knit group, their musical journey is both remarkable in its personal accomplishment
and historic in its contributions to Irish culture. It is indeed fascinating to consider that what today
is so widely regarded as Celtic music was first called "Clannad music."