Celtic Thunder

Celtic Thunder
Genres	Folk, Adult contemporary, world music, Soft rock, Broadway, classical crossover
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Decca Records
Website	Official website,
Members
Neil Byrne George Donaldson Keith Harkin Emmet Cahill Ryan Kelly Daniel Furlong
Past members
Paul Byrom Damian McGinty

Celtic Thunder is a singing group composed of male soloists who perform both solo and ensemble numbers. 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.

Since the group's formation, Celtic Thunder has released seven albums: Celtic Thunder, Act Two, Take Me Home, It's Entertainment, Christmas, Heritage, Storm as well as six live performances on DVD entitled Celtic Thunder: The Show, Take Me Home, It's Entertainment!, Christmas, Heritage and Storm.

In December 2009, Billboard magazine named Celtic Thunder Top World Album Artist. Their first three albums also placed in the Top 10 for World Albums.

Celtic Thunder is known for its eclectic style with songs ranging from a soloist to an ensemble focus. The group is backed by the Celtic Thunder Band on their concert tours, and their live shows are known for the use of dramatic effects via lighting and choreography as well as a stage set resembling an ancient stone pathway suggestive of those referenced in Celtic lore.

In March 2009, Celtic Thunder opened the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York City, and later that day performed for President Obama, Mrs. Obama and the then Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, at the White House.

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 which went to number one on the World music charts and embarked on a solo tour of the United States and Toronto, Canada which spanned the continent from Portland, Oregon to BB King's in New York City. He has also appeared as a singer of the National Anthem at Boston Celtics' games.

On May 12, 2011, Celtic Thunder member Ryan Kelly announced that he "decided to take a step back from Celtic Thunder and the public life that goes along with being part of it." On August 22, 2011, Sharon Brown announced that Ryan Kelly will be rejoining Celtic Thunder on tour.

On August 21, 2011, Damian McGinty announced on The Glee Project's Live Viewing Party, that he would be stepping down due to his new role on Glee.

Members

Current members

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

• Neil Byrne, (Born November 16, 1979) after playing guitar and singing backup on the previous albums, sang in ensemble pieces and had a solo performance of Noreen on Heritage. He is now 32.
• Emmet Cahill (born October 18, 1990) auditioned for Celtic Thunder in June 2010 and was asked to join after Paul Byrom announced his resignation. He is now 21.
• George Donaldson (born February 1, 1969), is the oldest member of the group and is a well-known balladeer, guitarist and flautist from Glasgow, Scotland. At Scotland's Celtic Park, Donaldson played to 65,000 fans at the opening match of the 2000-2001 season. Now he is 42.
• Daniel Furlong is from Taghmon, County Wexford, Ireland. At age 13, he replaced Damian McGinty, who left the group in 2011. Furlong, like McGinty when he had first joined the group, is a soprano (by the time he left the group at age 19, McGinty had become a baritone). Furlong won the 2011 All Ireland Talent Show.
• Keith Harkin (born June 10, 1986), is from Derry, Northern Ireland. He plays the guitar and has written one of the songs for Celtic Thunder: "Lauren and I". Keith has now recorded more original songs apart from Celtic Thunder, some titles include: "September Sessions" and All Day Long Now he is 25 and recording a solo album in November 2011.
• Ryan Kelly (born November 6, 1978), is from The Moy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He holds two degrees from the Queen's University Belfast, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and also a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Accounting, qualifying Ryan to be a chartered accountant. In the fall of 2010 Ryan released his solo album "In Time". Now he is 33.

Past members

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

• Paul Byrom (born April 11, 1979) is from Dublin, Ireland. In addition to Celtic Thunder, he has also performed at major sporting events in Ireland and abroad, including singing at the All Ireland Finals in Dublin's Croke Park and at Heinz Field for a Pittsburgh Steelers game in the USA. He has also performed for Ireland's President, Mary McAleese, and for Emperor Akihito of Japan. Paul has released two albums: Velvet and I'll Be Home For Christmas. Paul resigned to pursue a solo career in the US and left the group after the 2010 Celtic Thunder tour was over. He was replaced by Emmet Cahill. Now he is 32.
• Damian McGinty (born September 9, 1992), was the youngest member of the group (until being replaced by the 13 year old Daniel Furlong) and is from Derry, Northern Ireland. He won his first singing contest at the age of five. He recorded the first Celtic Thunder album when he was fourteen years old. McGinty lists Michael Buble, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra among his inspirations. On April 29, 2011 it was announced that Damian was chosen as one of 12 contenders for The Glee Project, a reality series on the Oxygen Network. He tied for first and will have a guest starring role in the third season of the Fox hit TV show Glee. He debuted on Glee season 3 episode 4 Pot o' Gold. Though originally awarded a seven-episode arc, his run-time was later extended to an unknown amount of episodes. He was replaced by Daniel Furlong. Damian is now 19.^{[citation needed]}

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 the fall of 2009, and plan to perform across the US in the fall of 2010. For spring 2009 they focused on touring Canada, while also playing some concerts in the north-eastern US.

During their 2008 fall tour, Celtic Thunder sold over 125,000 tickets in forty-nine shows and placed twentieth in the poll 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 (aka 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 adds singer Dierdre Shannon.

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

Other bands by the same name

Before the appearance of the current commercial production called "Celtic Thunder" a traditional New World Irish band called Celtic Thunder first performed in 1977.

The original Celtic Thunder was able to retain rights to the name after submitting to a non-competition agreement with the Celtic Thunder Production.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

• Celtic Thunder, the first album, was released on March 18, 2008.
• Act Two, the second album, was released on September 16, 2008.
• Take Me Home, the third album, was released on July 14, 2009.
• It's Entertainment!, the fourth album, was released on February 9, 2010.
• Christmas, the fifth album, was released on October 12, 2010.
• Heritage, the sixth album, was released on February 22, 2011.
• Storm, the seventh album, was released on September 20, 2011.
• Voyage, the eighth album, will be released on February 28, 2012.

External links

• Official website
  • George Donaldson's Official Website
  • Keith Harkin's Official Website
  • Paul Byrom's Official Website
  • Ryan Kelly's Official Website
  • Neil Byrne's Official Website
  • Emmet Cahill's Official Website
  • Damian McGinty's Official Website
• Damian McGinty's profile at the Glee Project website