Carmel McCourt

Career

Carmel McCourt, born on 24 November 1958 in Wrawby, Lincolnshire, is an English singer who became well known as the lead singer of the band Carmel, which also included bassist Jim Paris and drummer Gerry Darby. She attended St Bede's Catholic School in Ashby, Scunthorpe, and later Brigg Girls' High School. Her first public appearance as a vocalist came in 1982 on the single "Rain Rain Rain" by Soundtracks and Head, where she was listed as C. T. McCourt.

Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, Carmel found success in the UK and Europe, with albums and singles appearing on both the UK Albums and UK Singles Charts. After Darby left the band at the turn of the millennium, Paris and McCourt toured in 2002 with a nine-piece group, playing older songs. A live DVD called More, More, More came out in 2004, featuring full band performances and an interview with McCourt and Paris. In December 2011, still working as Carmel, McCourt and Paris released Strictly Piaf, an album of ten covers of Edith Piaf songs.

By October 2012, McCourt was planning a return to live shows with a new band, performing Carmel classics and material from Strictly Piaf, with dates at London's Islington Town Hall, Stockton Georgian Theatre, and Manchester Band on the Wall. She said it would be wonderful to work with new musicians, all great in their own right, and sweet to hear the songs she, Darby, and Paris wrote together across the 1980s and 1990s. In late May 2013, she took the band on a European tour through Germany and Switzerland and began playing new songs she had written.

On 25 September 2015, she released her first new single with the new band, the double A-side "Sad Situation"/"Second Wife Blues", on the independent label Kultura Recordings, recorded at Limefield Studio in Middleton and mixed and mastered by Kevin O'Toole. On 2 June 2018, she played her first live show in four years at St. Agnes' Church in Longsight, Manchester, followed by summer dates across northern England, including some festivals.