The Chieftains is an Irish musical group founded in 1962, known for performing and popularizing Irish traditional music. The band has recorded many albums of instrumental Irish folk music, as well as multiple collaborations with popular musicians of many genres, including Country music, Galician traditional music, Cape Breton and Newfoundland music, and rock and roll. They have performed with Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Tom Jones, Sinéad O'Connor, James Galway, and numerous Country-western artists. In 1975, the group won an Academy Award for Women of Ireland from Stanley Kubrick's movie Barry Lyndon.

They have won six Grammy Awards and have been nominated eighteen times. In 2002 they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the UK's BBC Radio 2.

While the band's members changed numerous times in the band's early history, the membership solidified in 1976 when Kevin Conneff replaced Peadar Mercier. From then until 2002, members included:

• Paddy Moloney (uilleann pipes, tin whistle, button accordion, bodhrán)
• Matt Molloy (flute, tin whistle)
• Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals)
• Seán Keane (fiddle, tin whistle)
• Martin Fay (fiddle, bones)
• Derek Bell (Irish harp, keyboard instruments, oboe)

In 2002, Fay retired from active membership and Bell passed away.

Other former members include:

• David Fallon (bodhrán)
• Ronnie McShane (pecussion )
• Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones)
• Sean Ó Riada (fiddle)
• Seán Potts (tin whistle, bones, bodhrán)
• Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, and tin whistle)

Moloney is the band's leader, and composes or arranges most of the band's music.

Sound samples

• of The Chieftains and Ziggy Marley covering Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"

External links

• Band History