Al Connelly

Alan John "Al" Connelly (born October 2, 1960) is the founding guitarist with the Canadian rock band, Glass Tiger. He and his band were honoured with five Canadian Music Industry Juno Awards, multiple Canadian SOCAN Classic Awards and were nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy Award.^[1] Al has released solo recordings as well.

Biography

Connelly was born to Edward and Dorothy Connelly. It was from the Newmarket area Al, at the age of 18, was asked to play with (future) GT band mates singer Alan Frew and bassist Wayne Parker in their late seventies rock band Onyx. The band, after 2 years of Canadian road life, disintegrated and Al formed a punk band called 'The Lowlifes' which recorded some of Al's songs. It wasn't long before a new band had emerged with Alan Frew and Wayne Parker joining forces with keyboardist Sam Reid and drummer Micheal Hanson to eventually become Glass Tiger. Al was then asked to join the new outfit in 1983. Their Toronto area popularity and songwriting capabilities eventually led them to a recording contract in 1985 with EMI/Capitol records worldwide. They were released on the world famous Blue Note Records under EMI Group in America.

Tours in America with Journey (with Steve Perry on vocals) and Tina Turner through Europe quickly secured an internationally positive response to the band's music. Micheal Hanson left the group in 1988 and was eventually replaced by Toronto drummer Chris McNeill.

The band's music is still strong and heard on the airwaves today and as recently as 2009 were honoured to be able to play to the Canadian Armed Forces stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Al continues to write and produce music today in many musical genres.

Connelly has acquired Studio Engineering Tech Diplomas both through Seneca College electrical Engineering and Humber College in Toronto. In addition to songwriting, Connelly also has spent many years working with Behavioral, Autistic and Developmentally Challenged youth.

Career achievements

Juno Awards

• 1989 Glass Tiger Canadian Entertainer of the Year
• 1987 Glass Tiger Single of the Year - "Someday" (co-writer)
• 1986 Glass Tiger Album of the Year-The Thin Red Line
• 1986 Glass Tiger Single of the Year - "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)"
• 1986 Glass Tiger Most Promising Group of the Year
• 1986 Glass Tiger American Grammy Nomination - Best New Artist

SOCAN Awards

Classic Awards for songs:

• "My Town" (Co-Writer)
• "Someday" (Co-Writer)

1. 1986 - Gold Single Award for 50,000 sales of the 45 RPM single in Canada
2. 1988 ASCAP Pop Award - Among the Most Performed Songs of the 1987 Survey Year
3. No 7 - Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart / January 1987 (21 weeks on the chart)
4. No 11 - The Record (Canada) / November 24, 1986 (20 weeks on the chart)

• 1991 Animal Heart (Co-Writer) - (2nd Runner up SOCAN Rock Song of the Year)

Gold & Platinum Records
-Nearly every Glass Tiger record went Gold or Platinum

Solo album

• Alan Connelly:In Another Life (Released Independently 2004)

Discography: Glass Tiger Albums

• The Thin Red Line (1986)
• Diamond Sun (1988)
• Simple Mission (1991)
• Air Time: The Best of Glass Tiger (1993)
• No Turning Back: 1985-2005 (2005)
• Glass Tiger: Live (2006)

References

External links

• Glass Tiger Boosts Military Spirits in Afghanistan article entry March 20, 2009
• ,Al Connelly Official Site
• Glass Tiger Homepage
• Bio at CanadianBands.com CanConRox entry
• Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia Entry
• The Canadian Encyclopedia