Walt Disney Records:
Biography of the Chieftains
Performing "A Special Bear" and the ever-popular theme song "Winnie the Pooh," The Chieftains bring a traditional Irish flavor to Take My Hand: Songs From the 100 Acre Wood. Celebrating their 31st anniversary this season, the group is now regarded as the most famous exponent of traditional Irish music in the world.
Their latest album, Film Cuts, features work from eight soundtracks The Chieftains have done over the years, including selections from Far and Away and Rob Roy. On their 1995 release, The Long Black Veil, the triple Grammy Award®-winning Irish group and an array of top musicians, including Sting, Mick Jagger, Van Morrison, and Sinead O'Connor, offer interpretations of traditional and contemporary songs from both sides of the Atlantic, from the 18th century to the present.
Making music with their friends is a time-honored tradition for The Chieftains. With contributions from Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Colin James, and Willie Nelson, among others, their 1992 album Another Country explored the influences of traditional Irish music in American country music. The album earned them a Grammy® in 1993 for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Also released in 1992, An Irish Evening was recorded live at the Grand Opera House in Belfast with special guests Roger Daltrey and Nanci Griffith; that album won a Grammy® for Best Traditional Folk Album. The following year, The Celtic Harp captured the Best Traditional Folk Album award, bringing The Chieftains their third Grammy® in two years. The group also collaborated with Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne, among others, on a Christmas album called The Bells of Dublin.
The group has performed with countless others, including Pete Townshend, Eddie Vedder, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, Michael Kamen, Bryan Adams, Roger Waters, Albert Finney, and Jerry Hall.
The Chieftains' numerous career highlights include their 1979 performance at Phoenix Park in Dublin before Pope John Paul II and 1.35 million people, breaking all attendance records for a live audience; their historic 1983 tour of China, in which The Chieftains became the first Western group to perform with a Chinese folk orchestra and to perform on the Great Wall of China; and in the same year, at the invitation of former U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neil, The Chieftains became the first group to give a concert in the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
The Chieftains are Paddy Maloney (uileann pipes), Derek Bell (harp), Martin Fay (fiddle), Kevin Conneff (bodhran), Sean Keene (fiddle), and Matt Molloy (flute).