Celtic Thunder

History

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, 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 Parade in New York City.

On November 28, 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. Byrom released his album This is the Moment in November 2011. He has also appeared as a singer of the national anthem at Boston Celtics' games. In March 2013, he recorded his first PBS special to be aired later in the year.

In 2011, Damian McGinty (the group's youngest member) entered and won the Oxygen reality show The Glee Project. On August 21, 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.

During their 2012 tour, Colm Keegan was asked to stand in for Ryan Kelly, who was hurt in a fall. After Kelly returned, Keegan was asked to become a permanent member of the group.

On October 15, 2012, Celtic Thunder performed at The Pentagon.

In December 2012, Celtic Thunder performed an unplugged concert at the Sullivan Hall, New York, in front of an audience of just over 300 people. The concert was in aid of the victims of Hurricane Sandy and resulted in approximately $50,000 being raised.

On January 13, 2014, after three years with Celtic Thunder, Emmet Cahill announced his decision to leave Celtic Thunder via his Facebook fan page.

On March 12, 2014, Sharon Browne announced that George Donaldson, one of the five original Celtic Thunder principal singers since the Celtic Thunder auditions in August 2007, died of a heart attack. He was preparing for the Celtic Thunder Australian tour in May. Celtic Thunder made their ‘Mythology’ tour as a homage to him.

On April 3, 2014, Emmet Cahill announced that he would once again be joining the "Thunderheads" on the Australia tour to pay homage to Donaldson.

On April 5, 2014, it was unofficially announced that Emmett O'Hanlon would be filling the place of Emmet Cahill after his departure. His last appearance with Celtic Thunder will be on the Celtic Thunder Cruise II in November 2014.

On November 24, 2014, it was announced that Damian McGinty would be rejoining Celtic Thunder as a temporary guest artist for their 2015 Very Best Of Celtic Thunder Tour.

On December 16, 2015, Colm Keegan announced that he will be taking a break from touring with Celtic Thunder for a year and will be recording a new solo album. Emmet Cahill rejoined Celtic Thunder to replace Keegan.

On April 26, 2016, Keith Harkin announced his departure from the group to focus on his solo career. On that same day, it was announced that Michael O'Dwyer will be replacing him.

Original Celtic Thunder

Celtic Thunder should not be confused with another earlier band called Celtic Thunder. Co-founded by Terence Winch, Jesse Winch, Linda & Steve Hickman, and Nita Conley, the original Celtic Thunder played its first gig in May 1977 at the Harp Pub in Baltimore, and went on to become one of the most influential traditional music groups in the U.S. Called "a great Irish band" by the Village Voice and "one of the best Irish folk acts in America" by The Washington Post, Celtic Thunder has released three albums over the years. The band's second CD, The Light of Other Days, which features Terence Winch’s song "When New York Was Irish", won the INDIE award for Best Celtic Album. In addition to touring Ireland and playing innumerable concerts, ceilis, and pubs in the U.S., Celtic Thunder also performed at the White House twice during the Clinton administration. The real Celtic Thunder should not be confused with the PBS television production (and related CDs) that started in 2008, which features a variety of commercial Irish and non-Irish material sung by an assortment of male vocalists and others, collectively calling itself "Celtic Thunder". Celtic Thunder's three albums are generally available through Amazon and other on-line sources. A compilation of Terence Winch's compositions, featuring many of Celtic Thunder's best-known songs and tunes, called When New York Was Irish, is also now available.

Creative team

Current members

The current members of Celtic Thunder are (in alphabetical order of family name):

Past members

The past members of Celtic Thunder are (in alphabetical order of family name):

Member timeline

Band

Concerts, tours, and discography

On December 17, 2008, Celtic Thunder completed their 2008 US tour of fifty cities. They also toured the United States extensively in fall 2009. For spring 2009 they focused on touring Canada, while also playing some concerts in the northeastern US.

During their 2008 fall tour, Celtic Thunder sold over 125,000 tickets in 49 shows and placed twentieth in the Star Tour Poll.

Celtic Thunder's first studio album and first concert special DVD were released on March 18, 2008. The album was titled Celtic Thunder and the concert special was titled The Show. It was filmed at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland, on August 2007.

The second studio album was released on September 16, 2008, titled Act Two. It included the rest of the songs from The Show.

The third studio album and second concert special DVD, both titled Take Me Home, were released July 14, 2009. Take Me Home was filmed at Casino Rama, Orillia (north of Toronto), while the group was on tour in 2009. It is considered a live concert DVD rather than a studio production.

The fourth studio album and third concert special DVD, both titled It's Entertainment!, were released on February 9, 2010. It was filmed alongside Storm at the Toronto International Centre Hall 5 (a.k.a. Arrow Hall), Toronto, Ontario, on October 1, 2009, and October 2, 2009.

After It's Entertainment!, Celtic Thunder fans sent many requests to Sharon Browne for a Christmas-themed album and an album containing more Irish music. Through these efforts, Christmas and Heritage came to be, postponing the release of Storm.

The fifth studio album, titled Christmas, was released on October 12, 2010, and the concert special DVD, also titled Christmas, was released on November 22, 2010. Christmas was filmed alongside Heritage at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, on September 17, 2010.

The sixth studio album and fifth concert special DVD titled Heritage was released on February 22, 2011. Heritage was filmed alongside Christmas at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, on September 17, 2010.

The seventh studio album and sixth DVD, titled Storm, was released on September 20, 2011 (originally recorded in 2009). Storm, unlike Celtic Thunder's other DVDs, is not just a filmed concert but has a storyline, an elaborate set establishing a location, and costumes which help to define the singers' and dancers' characters within the story. It makes use of the It's Entertainment cast which is Celtic Thunder's largest to date (25) and features singer Deirdre Shannon, a former member of Celtic Woman.

The eighth studio album and seventh concert special DVD, titled Voyage, was released on February 28, 2012. It was originally set to be filmed on September 27, 2011, but due to changes, this filming was cancelled. The search for a new venue began on October 3, 2011, and resulted in a filming date of October 18, 2011, in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Midland Theater.

The eighth concert special DVD, companion DVD to Voyage for online purchase only, is titled Voyage II and was released on June 25, 2012. The CD of the same name was released on September 1, 2012, not available in stores.

The 2012 Celtic Thunder North American tour was called the Voyage tour.

The ninth concert DVD special is called "Mythology". It was filmed in early 2013 at the Helix Theater in Dublin, Ireland. Featuring a Celtic Cross, the stage setting is one of the most ambitious. The tour began in August 2013, with stops in Canada and the United States and to finish in Australia June 2014.

The tenth DVD, entitled "Live and Unplugged" features a live more personal show at Sullivan Hall in New York. The concert was a benefit concert for the victims effected by Hurricane Sandy.

The eleventh DVD put out by Celtic Thunder was titled Home. The DVD has many fan favorites and pre-recorded CT songs in the background of the beautiful Irish scenery.

In November and December 2014 Celtic Thunder will be touring the Eastern United States with songs from their Christmas CD Christmas Voices. This will be the first Celtic Thunder symphony tour with symphonies such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

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.