About
While perhaps not as well known as Enya or Sinead O'Connor, Mary Black is
one of Ireland's most significant female singers. Born into an intensely
musical family -- her father was a fiddler from Rathlein Island and her
mother a singer -- Black was learning Irish folk at the knee of her older
brother Shay by the time she was eight years old. She came to take much joy
in singing, and fortunately for her she was blessed with a remarkably pure,
if not overly powerful, voice. After releasing one solo album in the early
1980s, the offbeat traditional Irish band DeDannan asked Black to join. Join
she did, touring with the band for three years (leaving her children in the
care of her husband Joe). But the call of her solo career proved strong, and
she ultimately returned to it in 1986. After a string of gold albums in
Ireland, 1987's By the Time It Gets Dark went multiplatinum and the
chart-topping, triple-platinum No Frontiers (1989) followed quickly
on its heels. Though she's a traditional singer of considerable talent,
Black has never limited her career to Celtic folk, taking on pop and other
influences as they suited her.
- Sarah Bardeen
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.