Mary Black to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards
Mary Black to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards
Paddy Moloney to be inducted into Hall of Fame, The Chieftains to perform live
Awards event live in Vicar Street and on RTÉ Radio 1 on Thursday 17th November
Tickets on sale now from ticketmaster.ie | #rtefolkawards
RTÉ has today announced that Mary Black will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards in Vicar Street, Dublin on Thursday 17th November (8pm) and live on RTÉ Radio 1.
As this year’s winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mary, who will perform live at this year’s awards event in Vicar Street, joins previous winners Christy Moore (2021), Steve Cooney (2020), Moya Brennan (2019) and Andy Irvine (2018). The award will be presented on the night by writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker, Susan McKay.
Founder and frontman of The Chieftains, Paddy Moloney, who passed away last year, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on the night.
Presented by RTÉ’s John Creedon, the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards will feature live performances from Mary Black, The Chieftains, Sharon Shannon, Inni K, Scullion, Skippers Alley and many more in what promises to be a very special night, celebrating Irish folk music and artists, both established as well as emerging.
Commenting on the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mary Black said: “To be the recipient of this Lifetime Achievement Award is a great honour. It’s hard to believe that its almost 40 years since my first solo album and I have so much to be grateful for since then. The gift of music and song first came from my parents who instilled in us a great love of music. I was fortunate to have an abundance of material written by exceptional songwriters who allowed me to share their stories. I was blessed also to have the outstanding musicians who worked with me to bring these songs alive and of course to have the audiences who loyally supported me down through the years. Míle buíochas – I am indeed honoured and grateful beyond words”.
Mary Black has been a dominant presence in Irish music, both at home and abroad, over the last forty years bringing Irish songs and music, past and present to growing numbers of fans, not just in Ireland where she has been a household name for decades, but all over the world. As an award-winning solo artist with multiple chart-topping and critically acclaimed albums, starting with her eponymously named debut solo album in 1983, Mary Black has been celebrated by an adoring public as well as fellow artists many of whom she has performed and recorded with over the years, including Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Joan Baez and Van Morrison. She has also made time to successfully record and perform with her siblings in The Black Family and with her sister Frances, as well as with De Dannan with whom she made two acclaimed albums before her successful solo career.
As music writer, Jackie Hayden has written, “Mary explored the best work available from new composers and mined the rich seams they offered. That commitment to fresh material, combined with her unique interpretations of the songs she chooses, saw her release numerous albums that achieved platinum sales status and spawned countless hits. Indeed, one of Mary’s albums – No Frontiers – spent more than a year in the Irish Top 30!”
Mary’s back-catalogue of outstanding and best-selling albums, including Without the Fanfare (1985), By the Time it Gets Dark (1987), No Frontiers (1989), Babes in the Wood (1991), The Holy Ground (1993), Circus (1995), Shine (1997) and Speaking with the Angel (1999) represent such an important and influential body of work which have brought her acclaim and success all over the world, as a recording artist and a live performer.
Mary Black’s talent and appeal have transcended generations and cemented her place as one of the great Irish artists of her generation, an artist that has helped promote Irish music over these past decades and enhance its reputation around the world and for this we are proud and grateful. She is truly deserving of this year’s RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards will celebrate the very best in folk music in Ireland from the past year live in Vicar Street on Thursday 17th November and on RTÉ Radio 1.
Tickets for the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards are on sale now via www.ticketmaster.ie. Tickets are €28, including booking fee and other charges. Stay up to date on the latest on the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards by following RTÉ and RTÉ Radio 1 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #rtefolkawards and by staying tuned to RTÉ Radio 1.
If you can’t join us in Vicar Street on Thursday 17th November, join us live on RTÉ Radio 1 at 8pm on the evening and watch our television highlights programme on RTÉ One on Saturday 19th November at 10.50pm.