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The Corrs

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The Corrs
File:The Corrs.jpg
Background information
Years active1991–present
MembersJim Corr
Sharon Corr
Caroline Corr
Andrea Corr

The Corrs are a multi-platinum Irish rock band hailing from Dundalk, Ireland. The members of the band are four siblings - three sisters and one brother - from the Corr family: Sharon, Caroline, Andrea and Jim Corr. The band rose to prominence in the late 1990s, and have since sold over 60 million albums worldwide, and have had numerous number one singles and albums in Europe, Australia, and North America.

History

All of the Corrs were born in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, the children of musicians Gerry and Jean Corr.

In addition to their regular musical duties, they can all play the piano, which was taught to them by their father, Gerry Corr.

The Corrs were formed to audition for the 1991 film The Commitments. Jim, Sharon, and Caroline had a small part as musicians, while Andrea got a speaking part as Sharon Rabbitte, the sister of the main character. While auditioning for the movie, they were noticed by their future manager, John Hughes.

They first achieved Irish success after performing on The Late Late Show, then hosted by Gay Byrne, in 1993, singing their first single "Runaway".

The band was relatively unknown outside of Ireland until 1994, when American ambassador to the country Jean Kennedy Smith invited the group to perform at the 1994 World Cup in Boston. This performance also led to the band becoming the supporting act for Celine Dion on her 1996 world tour.

In 1995, additional musicians Anto Drennan (lead guitar) and Keith Duffy (bass guitar) were brought in to supplement the band's sound. Their positions became permanent, although they are essentially only sidemen and tend not to appear in the band's promo videos nor make any contribution to the songwriting. However, Drennan has been credited as co-producer on some tracks.

Their first album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, had its greatest success in Australia, Sweden, Spain and Ireland, gaining later success in the UK and in Canada. In 1997 they released Talk On Corners, which was primarily popular in Ireland, eventually taking off in Britain, and subsequently spreading across the globe. Both have been certified gold in the United States, and In Blue has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In 2004, they released a slightly more guitar orientated album, Borrowed Heaven, which has been very popular globally.

According to the Irish Recorded Music Association, The Corrs have sold over 30 million albums worldwide, not including singles. In January of 2006, the Irish Singles Chart released statements claiming that the band had sold closer to 60 million albums worldwide.

They also recorded Canto Alla Vita with Josh Groban for his self-titled album, and also been involved with a number of collaborations including with Rod Stewart, Alejandro Sanz, Ron Wood from The Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow on C'mon, C'mon and Bono from U2.

From 2004 onwards, with Caroline on 'light duties' or absent, Keith Duffy's brother Jason Duffy joined on percussion, with Kieran Kiely on accordion and keyboards.

In 2005 the band returned with Home, a traditional Irish album celebrating their roots, many of the songs coming from their late mother's songbook.

The Corrs were made Honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for their outstanding contribution to music and charity work. This was met with some discontent by some in the Republic of Ireland as the Order is, obviously, a British award headed by Queen Elizabeth II.

Future

The Corrs are currently on hiatus to raise their families and explore new options in their careers. However, they have stated innumerable times that they never see themselves quitting. Andrea has reassured fans of this fact in a recent (November, 2006) interview.

  • Andrea Corr is currently undertaking new acting projects, and has just finished filming a new movie called Broken Thread alongside Linus Roache and Saffron Burrows. She has also recently completed work on her first solo album with (among others) Nellee Hooper as producer and Bono as executive producer. The album is expected to be called Present, and is expected to be released in early 2007.
  • In March 2006, Sharon Corr gave birth to her first child, Cathal Robert Gerard Bonnar, with husband Gavin Bonnar.
  • Caroline Corr is expecting her third child in October 2006.

Discography

For a complete discography, see The Corrs discography.

Trivia

  • Japanese pop star Tomiko Van ranks The Corrs as one of her favourite bands.
  • The Corrs were occasionally lampooned on the British Saturday morning television program SMTV, where the hosts Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, and Cat Deeley would don long, black wigs and lip gloss and announce to the camera "Hi, we're the beautiful Corrs" in soft Irish accents. Sitting a distance away from them was a man with a paper bag on his head labelled "Jim".
  • The British comedy duo French and Saunders lampooned the group with a song "We're The Pretty Face of Cloning (A Hundred More Sisters to Add to the Corrs)". Dawn French played all three sisters, with Jennifer Saunders playing Jim, who tries desperately to get the camera's attention but fails. The Corrs themselves were apparently amused, as they have shown the clip at concerts before the start of their set.
  • The fourth issue of Vertigo Comics series Jack of Fables contains a reference to The Corrs. The caption on the last page of the issue says that the title character Jack Horner will "finish escaping all the way to Ireland, where I wind up as the personal boy toy of those three hot fiddle-playing pop star sisters who named themselves after beer." The last part of the sentence is a reference to the Coors Brewing Company.
  • One of the band's songs At Your Side from In Blue was recently featured in the trailer for the upcoming movie The Holiday starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz.

See also

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