Irish singer Keith Duffy has revealed that he doesn’t feel able to relax and go out in Dublin as he can’t be sure what reaction he will get from the public. The former Boyzone star and Coronation Street actor is now in the band BoyzLife with former Westlife star Brian McFadden. Duffy said that while the duo always feel welcome in countries where they have enjoyed huge success such as the UK and Australia, they can’t be sure of their own safety back home. While he loves his homeland and Irish people, he feels that the public are far more generous in the way they welcome celebrities from oversea ..read more

A band from Ukraine who play traditional Irish songs have taken to performing online concerts because the war in their country has prevented them from being able to work normally. The Jollys have been performing classic Irish folk songs for more than a decade after they formed in 2012. They have gained fans in countries all around the world thanks to their energetic performances and enthusiasm for Irish songs. Like all Ukrainian people, the members of the band have suffered a terrible time in their homeland since the Russian invasion. Thankfully, they have managed to stay safe throughout the c ..read more

Irish star Daniel O’Donnell has pleaded with fans to keep their guards up as it has emerged a scammer has been using his name to extract money from them. Fraudsters have been contacting O’Donnell’s fans on social media pretending to be the singer or a member of his staff. Initiating contact in this way is a tactic used to lure in an unsuspecting victim before hitting them with an elaborate reason to send them cash. In this case, O’Donnell and his team don’t know what the second half of the scam would have entailed, and they don’t want his fans to have to find out the hard way. O’Donnell upload ..read more

U2 are one of the most iconic rock bands in the world and have sold more than 150 million albums throughout their 40 years at the top of the music industry. However, the band may never have been – at least under the name U2. Frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge revealed in an interview that they were never fully sold on the name U2, and went ahead with it only because it was the one they ‘disliked the least’. The rockers were speaking to the Awards Chatter podcast and took a look back at their four decades of success and explained there were a few tough times along the way, including picking t ..read more

Rock legend Bono has revealed that he ‘cringes’ when he hears some of his band’s songs. The Dubliner has been the frontman for U2 since the 1980s and the band has enjoyed international success with numerous albums and hit songs such as With or Without You. They have become one of the most iconic bands of the last 40 years so it would seem strange to think that their leader has not always been happy with their sound. However, that is the case as Bono revealed during a discussion with the Awards Chatter podcast. The 61-year-old star explained that other than the U2 track Vertigo from 2004, he fi ..read more

British singer Ed Sheeran has come under fire from Dubliners star John Sheahan, who accused him of ‘murdering’ the classic Irish song Raglan Road. Sheeran has always been proud of his Irish heritage and spent years listening to the traditional Irish classics when he was growing up. He has always kept close with his Irish background, and recorded various trad classics throughout his career. He even wrote a song about the love story of his grandparents named Nancy Mulligan. Ed has also delighted his Irish fans in the past by performing one of his own biggest hits – Thinking Out Loud – in the Iri ..read more

An Irish singer-songwriter has written a song warning tourists to avoid Dublin’s famous Temple Bar area. Temple Bar is a haven for tourists, attracting people from all over the world who come to soak up the atmosphere and catch a bit of live music. It is a lot of fun but like all tourist areas it has a reputation for being a fairly costly night out. No wonder so many visitors like to seek out the ‘local Irish pub’ instead. Singer Billy Treacy has now written the song ‘Temple Bar’. The song tackles the less attractive aspects of the area such as expensive beers, beggars, pickpockets and the ‘la ..read more

Congratulations to Irish singer Van Morrison for the stunning success of his song Brown Eyed Girl, which passed the ten million mark for the number of airplays on radio stations in the United States. The Belfast born singer received a special award for his outstanding achievement from Broadcast Music Inc – the organisation that collects royalty fees for performers when their music is played on radio or in public places. Brown Eyed Girl was Morrison’s first top ten hit in America and is still his most successful song to date. In 2015, Brown Eyed Girl was named as the most downloaded and played ..read more

Ed Sheeran is proud of his Irish roots and Ireland has a big influence on his latest album Divide, featuring a song called Galway Girl and several top Irish musicians. But it doesn’t stop there. The album also has a track dedicated to his Irish granny, 92-year-old Nancy who still lives in Co Wexford. ‘Nancy Mulligan’ is the name of track number 15 on Ed’s album and is named after his gran. The song tells the love story between Nancy and Ed’s grandfather William Sheeran. He was from Northern Protestant background and Nancy was from a Catholic family from the South. Nancy’s father forbid them fr ..read more

Former Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher and guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs have all spoken about the significance of the band’s Irish roots. During the 1960s several Irish families travelled to Manchester and other English cities to find work during a boom in the construction industry. All five original members of the Manchester band come from Irish families. Bonehead believes that the culture they grew up in with so many Irish immigrants living in the north of England was vital to the band’s attitude and sound. He told the Irish Post: “We were five lads off the street. I get asked th ..read more