Ronnie Drew

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风格: #凯尔特民谣　#爱尔兰民谣
地区: Ireland 爱尔兰

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Joseph Ronald &Ronnie& Drew (Irish: Ránall Ó Draoi IPA: [ˈɾˠaːnəl̪ˠ oː dɾˠiː]) (16 September 1934 – 16 August 2008) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He is most recognised for his lead vocals on the single &Seven Drunken Nights& and &The Irish Rover& both charting in the UK top 10 and then performed on TOTP. He was recognisable for his long beard and his voice, which was once described by Nathan Joseph as being &like the sound of coke being crushed under a door&.

Drew was born in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin in 1934. Ironically with Drew being so intimately associated with being &a Dubliner& he would somewhat tongue-in-cheek say that; &I was born and grew up in Dún Laoghaire, and no true Dubliner would accept that at all!&. He was educated at CBS Eblana. He used to &mitch& and cycle up to Leopardstown Racecourse. Despite an aversion to education on the part of Drew, he was considered the most intelligent in his class by schoolfriend and future Irish film censor, Sheamus Smith. Drew was a boy soprano before his voice broke.

In the 1950s, Drew moved to Spain to teach English and learn Spanish and flamenco guitar. His interest in folk music began at the age of 19. When he returned to Ireland, he performed in the Gate Theatre with John Molloy and soon after, went into the music business full-time. In the meantime, he had a number of short-term jobs, including one in the telephone exchange in Dublin.[citation needed]

In 1962, he founded the Ronnie Drew Group with Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna and Ciaran Bourke. They soon changed their name to The Dubliners, with John Sheahan joining shortly afterwards to form the definitive line-up. They would soon become one of the best known Irish folk groups. They played at first in O'Donoghue's Pub in Merrion Row, Dublin 2 where they were often accompanied by Mary Jordan on the spoons and vocalist Ann Mulqueen, a friend of Barney. Mary Jordan's mother, Peggy Jordan, introduced them to the Abbey Tavern in Howth, which became a regular Monday night venue for the emerging group. They also played across the road in the Royal Hotel. The group also played at all-night parties in Peggy's large house in Kenilworth Square in Rathgar, and in John Molloy's flat at Ely Place. He left the Dubliners in 1974, rejoined in 1979 and finally left for good in 1995, though he did reunite with the group in 2002 for a 40th anniversary celebration. He re-joined The Dubliners for several television appearances between 2002–05.[citation needed]

From 1995 onwards Drew pursued a solo career. He recorded with many artists, including Christy Moore, The Pogues, Antonio Breschi, Dropkick Murphys, Eleanor Shanley and others. He did a number of &one-man shows& (he was accompanied by various guitarists) during this period, such as Songs and Stories, Ronnie, I Hardly Knew Ya and Ronnie. These shows consisted of stories about people such as Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and Seán O'Casey, as well as Drew singing their songs.

He fronted a campaign to encourage the use of Dublin's light-rail infrastructure (the DART) and before that the &My Dublin& ads for radio stations 98FM and FM104. He narrated a retelling (scripted by Steven Byrne) of the great Irish Myths and Legends over a six CD set in 2006. He also narrated the stories of Oscar Wilde in his distinctive voice in a series released on CD by the News of the World newspaper. Both were re-released as CD box sets in 2010.[citation needed]

On 22 August 2006, he was honoured in a ceremony where his hand prints were added to the &Walk of Fame& outside Dublin's Gaiety Theatre.

In September 2006, Drew was reported to be in ill-health after being admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, to undergo tests for suspected cancer. The Evening Herald reported that Drew's apparent illness was due to years of heavy drinking. However, according to a fan site dedicated to The Dubliners, it was reported that he was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. (Drew had been a teetotaler for a number of years, with an occasional relapse.[citation needed] However, he remained a regular smoker.) Drew appeared on Ireland's The Late Late Show on 15 December 2006 along with Phil Coulter, where he discussed his recent health scares. Despite his failing health, Drew featured on an album entitled Pearls produced by Niall Austin with work Drew did with Jah Wobble.

His wife of more than 40 years, Deirdre Drew (née McCartan) died on 7 June 2007 at St Vincent's Hospital, just one day before Ronnie was to return to performing after his battle with cancer, at the Legends of Irish Folk concert with Johnny McEvoy, Ralph McTell and Finbar Furey.

On 25 October 2007, Drew appeared on Ryan Confidential on RTÉ 1 to give an interview about his role in The Dubliners, his life since leaving the band and being diagnosed with throat cancer. This was Drew's first ever televised appearance where he was shown bald and beardless. Later in 2007, he again appeared on The Late Late Show, where he again spoke about the death of his wife and his ongoing treatment for cancer.

Drew died in St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin on 16 August 2008, following his long illness. He was buried three days later in Redford Cemetery in Greystones.

Ronnie Drew

艺人介绍

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