The Corrs
The Corrs originally come from the town of Dundalk (Irish name "Dún Dealgan") in the County Louth in the Republic of Ireland. Their small home town is situated halfway between Dublin and Belfast, near the border to Northern Ireland.
It would be easy to mess them up with moretraditional Irish bands like the Chieftains or Clannad. And the instruments the Corrs are playing are indeed a little bit unusual for a modern band. Tin whistle, bodhrán and violin are not found very often in today's music.
But this is one of the strengths of their style: they make modern music and at the same time traditional Irish music. They do a fantastic job at including Irish elements in pop music (or vice versa as you prefer), which adds a trademark twist to their songs. Caroline once called the Corrs "a traditional Irish pop-rock band, whatever that may be".
The band was formed in 1990 when Alan Parker was doing a casting for his upcoming movie "The Commitments". Though the Corrs' parts in this movie are tiny, it helped them to meet their future manager, John Hughes.
After years of touring pubs and small clubs, the big break came when they were invited to Boston, America and got to know the famous producer David Foster. He was instantly smitten with the Corrs' style and signed them right away.
Only little later, "Forgiven Not Forgotten" was released and marked the Corrs' rise to international success, resulting in over 24 million sold CDs and countless awards.
Today, the Corrs are one of Ireland's most famous groups next to the Chieftains, U2 and Westlife. They have been enjoying success all over the world for the past 10 years, and even though the album "Borrowed Heaven" released in 2004 was not a smash hit, the Corrs carry on.
2005 not only saw a new CD called "Home", but also the highly anticipated double DVD with the name "All The Way Home - A History Of The Corrs". With the traditional songs on "Home", the band has come full circle and returns to its Irish roots, hopefully bringing us many more years of their wonderful music.
Since then, family life has been a priority for the Corrs: Caroline, Sharon and Jim now have six children between them. Andrea is the only member of the family who is childless but at the moment, she is busy with her solo career. In 2007, she released her debut album called "Ten Feet High".
The Corrs as a band have laid low and only released another Greatest Hits album in 2006: "Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection". There are rumours the band may go back to the studio in 2008 - we will see what the new year brings!