Dickie Rock

Early fame

Rock was born in the North Strand, Dublin and raised in Cabra on Dublin's Northside.

Between 1963 and 1972 he was one of the frontmen of the Miami Showband (who were later in the headlines due to the Miami Showband killings incident). He had thirteen top ten hits with the Miami Showband, including seven number ones. Dickie Rock and the Miami were the first Irish artists to go straight into the number one spot with "Every Step of the Way" in 1965. During his time with the Miami Showband, Rock attracted the kind of mass hysteria normally reserved for The Beatles.

In 1966, he sang for Ireland in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest with the song, "Come Back to Stay". He entered as a solo artist and finished fourth in the Contest. This song also became a number one hit in Ireland.

Solo years

Rock went solo in 1973, although still performed occasionally with the Miami Showband after this.

Later years

Rock continues to tour at the age of 75 (2011), after a career spanning more than 40 years. Following a third RTE documentary (one in the 1960s, another in the 1980s and another in 2006) about Rock and his place at the forefront of the Irish showband scene, Dickie received a lifetime achievement award in October 2009.

Wikipedia controversy

In 2008, an anonymous employee of the stricken financial company Anglo Irish Bank made lewd comments about Dickie Rock on this Wikipedia page. The bank launched an investigation into how this had happened and the incident was reported in the Irish media some months later. Rock himself commented on the incident.

Discography