The Chieftains are a traditional Irish band formed in Dublin in November 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy. The band had their first rehearsals at Moloney's house, with Tubridy, Martin Fay and David Fallon. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous with traditional Irish music and they are regarded as having helped popularise Irish music across the world.Paddy Moloney came out of Ceoltóirí Chualann, a group of musicians who specialised in instrumentals, and sought to form a new band. The group remained only semi-professional up until the 1970s, by then they had achieved great success in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 1973, their popularity began to spread to the United States when their previous albums were released there by Island Records. They received further acclaim when they worked on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film Barry Lyndon, which triggered their transition to the mainstream in the US.The group continued to release successful records throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and their work with Van Morrison in 1988 resulted in the critically acclaimed album Irish Heartbeat. They went on to collaborate with many other well-known musicians and singers; among them Luciano Pavarotti, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinéad O'Connor and Roger Daltrey. The band have won six Grammys during their career and they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002. Some music experts have credited The Chieftains with bringing traditional Irish music to a worldwide audience, so much so that the Irish government awarded them the honorary title of 'Ireland's Musical Ambassadors' in 1989. In 2012, they celebrated their 50th anniversary with the release of their most recent record Voice of Ages.
Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance, Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, Juno Award for Video of the Year
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Water Horse
2007
composer: additional music
Under solen
1998
music performers
The Irish in America: Long Journey Home
1998
TV Mini-Series documentary musical performance by - 4 episodes
The Fourth Green Field
1994
Documentary music performers
Far and Away
1992
music performers
Treasure Island
1990
TV Movie music performers
Three Wishes for Jamie
1987
TV Movie music performers
Ballad of the Irish Horse
1985
TV Movie documentary music performed by
The Grey Fox
1982
music performers: traditional Irish music
The Year of the French
1982
TV Mini-Series music performers - 3 episodes
Lovespell
1981
music performers
The Ballad of the Irish Horse
1978
Documentary music department
The Purple Taxi
1977
music performers
Sea Marks
1976
TV Movie music performers
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Fargo
2015
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Ray Donovan
2014
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Flynns Journey to Ireland
2004
Documentary performer: "The Parting of Friends / Kerry Fling", "Tribute to Bunting", "Planxty Burting Live", "Madame Cole", "Sonny Brogan's Mazurkas", "The Lament for Limerick"
Gangs of New York
2002
performer: "Kerry Slides"
Agnes Browne
1999
performer: "The Last Rose of Summer"
Babe: Pig in the City
1998
performer: "Protected by Angels"
The MatchMaker
1997
performer: "Irish Heartbeat"
Rob Roy
1995
performer: "O'Sullivan's March"
Northern Exposure
1992
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Only the Lonely
1991
performer: "MARIE'S WEDDING"
Teatro estudio
1978
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Purple Taxi
1977
performer: "Un Taxi Mauve", "La Maison Templar", "La Plage", "Un Pub", "Rideau De Pluie", "Le Marais", "Finale"