The Chieftains

Career

Paddy Moloney came from Ceoltóirí Chualann, a group focused on instrumental music that wanted to start a new band. The first practices of this new outfit happened at Moloney's home, with David Fallon and Martin Fay joining the original three members. For years, the group stayed only semi-professional, but by the 1970s they had become very popular in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. Their reach expanded to America in 1973 when Island Records released their earlier albums there.

More attention came after they contributed to the Oscar-winning soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film Barry Lyndon, which pushed them into the mainstream in the US. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, they kept putting out successful records, and a 1988 collaboration with Van Morrison produced the well-received album Irish Heartbeat. Over time, they worked with many famous musicians and singers, including Luciano Pavarotti, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor, Sting, and Roger Daltrey.

In 2012, they marked their 50th anniversary with a big album and tour. The album, Voice of Ages, was produced by T Bone Burnett and featured collaborations with artists like Bon Iver, Paolo Nutini, and The Decemberists. It also included a track with NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman playing the flute on the International Space Station while it orbited Earth. The Chieftains played Carnegie Hall on March 17, 2012.

In February 2019, they started a large farewell tour called the Irish Goodbye Tour, which included legs in Europe in 2019, Canada in 2020, and two US legs in 2019 and 2020. On March 13, 2020, the band announced that some tour dates had been postponed indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-founder and leader Paddy Moloney died suddenly on October 12, 2021, which effectively brought the band to an end.

Collaborations

The Irish government named the group Ireland's Musical Ambassadors in 1989, a title earned through their extensive collaborations across genres like country, Galician traditional music, Newfoundland music, and rock and roll. In May 1986, they played at Self Aid, a Dublin benefit concert addressing Ireland's widespread chronic unemployment. They joined Roger Daltrey's 1994 production celebrating the music of Pete Townshend and The Who. On February 15, 2013, they performed in Houston, Texas, with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who sang and played guitar on "Moondance" from the International Space Station.

Success and legacy

The Chieftains have collected six Grammy wins from eighteen nominations, along with an Emmy and a Genie. Their music appears in the Oscar-winning score for Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 film Barry Lyndon, where their rendition of “Women of Ireland” is especially praised. In 2002, BBC Radio 2 gave them a Lifetime Achievement Award. Two of their singles charted modestly in the UK: “Have I Told You Lately,” with Van Morrison, reached number 71 in 1995, and “I Know My Love,” featuring The Corrs, peaked at number 37 in 1999.

According to Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, the band’s success elevated Irish traditional music to the same level as other popular genres. By working with pop and rock artists, they brought Irish music to a far larger audience, effectively becoming musical ambassadors for Ireland. This role was made official in 1989, when the Irish government granted them the honorary title of Ireland’s Musical Ambassadors.

Notable performances

The Chieftains once performed for Pope John Paul II in Dublin’s Phoenix Park in 1979, playing to a crowd of over a million people during the Pontiff’s visit to Ireland. In 1983, the Chinese government invited them to join the Chinese Broadcasting Art Group for a concert on the Great Wall of China, making them the first Western group to do so. They also became the first band to play in the U.S. Capitol Building, at the invitation of Senator Edward Kennedy and House Speaker Tip O’Neill. In 2011, they performed in Dublin for a concert attended by President Mary McAleese and Queen Elizabeth II during her historic first official trip to Ireland. On April 14, 2023, the group reunited one final time to play for President Joe Biden during his visit to his ancestral home in Ballina, County Mayo. Biden has often called The Chieftains his favorite band.