The Corrs
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| The Corrs | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Dundalk, Ireland |
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| Genre(s) | Rock Pop Celtic |
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| Years active | 1990–2005 2006 - present (on hiatus) |
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| Label(s) | 143 Records (until 2002) Lava Records (until 2002) Atlantic Records Warner Music Group |
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| Website | The Corrs Website | |
| Members | ||
| Jim Corr Sharon Corr Caroline Corr Andrea Corr |
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| Notable instrument(s) | ||
| Guitar, Tin whistle, Drums, Violin, Piano | ||
The Corrs are a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Celtic folk-rock and pop rock group from Dundalk, Republic of 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 55 million albums worldwide, and have had numerous number one singles and albums in Europe, Australia, Asia and North America.
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[edit] Members
All of the Corrs were born in Dundalk, County Louth, the children of musicians Gerry and Jean Corr.
- Jim Corr (born James Steven Ignatius Corr, on July 31, 1964) is the oldest member of the band. He plays guitar, keyboards/piano and does the backing vocals.
- Sharon Corr (born Sharon Helga Corr, on March 24, 1970) plays the violin, and does the backing vocals.
- Caroline Corr (born Caroline Georgina Corr, on March 17, 1973) plays drums, bodhrán, tambourine, percussion, piano and does the backing vocals.
- Andrea Corr (born Andrea Jane Corr, on May 17, 1974 is the lead singer and plays the tin whistle.
In late 1995, before the start of their first tour, additional musicians Anto Drennan (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.
During their Royal Albert Hall concert on St. Patrick's Day, 1998, the guitarist was Conor O'Brady.
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.
While only Jim and Caroline are the only siblings to be credited playing the piano for their tracks, all of the members can play the piano which was taught to them by their father, Gerry Corr.
[edit] History
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 success after performing on The Late Late Show, then hosted by Gay Byrne, in 1993, with their first single "Runaway". However, the band was relatively unknown outside 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 them becoming the supporting act for Celine Dion on her 1996 world tour.
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 principally popular in Ireland, eventually taking off in Britain, and later other countries. 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.
According to the Irish Recorded Music Association, The Corrs have sold over 30 million albums worldwide, not including singles. In January of 2006 and January of 2007, the Irish Singles Chart, and RTE Albums 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.
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.
In July 2005, The Corrs performed at the Edinburgh Live 8 concert featuring Bono on one song.
[edit] Hiatus
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 reassured fans of this in a recent (November, 2006) interview.
- Andrea Corr is currently undertaking new acting projects; her most recent film Broken Thread, alongside Linus Roache and Saffron Burrows, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. She has also completed work on her first solo album with Nellee Hooper as producer and Bono as executive producer. The album will be called Ten Feet High, and will be released on the 4th June 2007.
- In March 2006, Sharon Corr gave birth to her first child, Cathal Robert Gerard Bonnar, with husband Gavin Bonnar and is recently reported to be expecting her second.
- Caroline Corr gave birth to her third child in December 2006.
- In late 2005, Jim Corr announced his engagement to his girlfriend, former Miss Northern Ireland Gayle Williamson, who gave birth to the couple's first child, Brandon, in May 2006. They have since separated.
During the time when The Corrs had their brief hiatus, they had released another greatest hits album on November 20, 2006 called 'Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection'. The album consists of remixes and songs not found on any of their previous compilation albums.
The album charted at a disappointing #43 in the album chart, possibly as it is the second 'best of' compilation in only 5 years.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
 7 million copies sold |
 10 million copies sold |
 13 million copies |
 14 million copies sold |
 1 million copies sold |
[edit] Compilations
 3 million copies sold |
 740,000 copies sold |
[edit] Live Albums
 '250,000 copies sold |
 2 million copies sold |
 1 million copies sold |
[edit] Videos
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[edit] Trivia
- 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 parodied 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 their 2000 album, In Blue, was recently featured in the trailer for the film The Holiday starring Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black.
- Andrea is usually barefoot when she performs on stage. Sometimes Caroline plays barefoot too.
- On April 11, 2000 The Corrs played after B*Witched at The Royal Albert Hall, London. [1]
- Sharon met her husband, barrister Gavin Bonnar while shooting for the video of Runaway, their very first single.
[edit] See also
- Music of Ireland
- 1990s music groups
- 2000s music groups
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of Pepsi spokespersons
- List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
- List of Number 1 albums from the 1990s (UK)
- List of number-one albums from the 2000s (UK)
- List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
- List of celebrities who have been awarded the Order of the British Empire
[edit] External links
| The Corrs |
| Andrea | Caroline | Jim | Sharon |
| Discography |
| Albums: Forgiven, Not Forgotten | Live | Talk on Corners | Unplugged | In Blue | Best of | Live in Dublin | Borrowed Heaven | Home | Dreams |
| Singles: Runaway | Forgiven, Not Forgotten | The Right Time | Love to Love You | Closer | Only When I Sleep | I Never Loved You Anyway | What Can I Do | Dreams | I Know My Love | Radio | Old Town | Rainy Day | Breathless | Irresistible | Give Me a Reason | All the Love in the World | Would You Be Happier | When the Stars Go Blue | Summer Sunshine | Angel | Long Night | Heart Like a Wheel/Old Town | Goodbye |
