Celtic Woman is an all-female musical ensemble conceived and assembled by David Downes – a former Musical Director of the Irish stage show Riverdance. [1] [2] His concept was to tap into the American marketplace’s taste for Celtic music and culture by creating a group that blended the Irish elements of music and dance successfully exploited by Michael Flatley with the structure of all-girl pop groups such as Spice Girls and Pussycat Dolls. [3] To accomplish this he recruited an aggregate of five Irish female artists who had not previously performed together: vocalists Chloë Agnew, Lynn Hilary, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt. Downes proposed a repertoire that ranges from traditional Celtic tunes to modern songs. To date, four albums have been released under the name “Celtic Woman”: Celtic Woman, Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration, Celtic Woman: A New Journey and Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey. The group that Downes created has undertaken a number of world tours. Cumulatively, albums by Celtic Woman have sold over 50 million records worldwide, making it currently one of the most commercially successful musical acts in the world.
The foundation for Celtic music’s popularity outside of Ireland and Europe was built by tapping into the success of artists such as Enya and Clannad, along with stage shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Celtic Woman has been described by some showbiz journalists as being “Riverdance for the voice.
Albums
Celtic Woman was filmed on 15 September 2004 for PBS Television at The Helix, Dublin, Ireland, in front of a sold out audience. Organized by producer Sharon Browne, Chairman & CEO Dave Kavanagh and musical director and composer David Downes, this performance was first broadcast on PBS during March 2005 in the United States, and within weeks the group’s eponymous debut album Celtic Woman reached #1 on Billboard’s World Music chart, eventually breaking Andrea Bocelli’s long-standing record on 22 July 2006 by staying at #1 for 68 weeks,[2] and held that position for 81 weeks total.[3] Much of the group’s success in America has been credited to the extensive PBS publicity throughout 2005. The live performance at The Helix was released on DVD alongside the studio album.
The release of the second album, Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration, on 19 October 2006 knocked their first album to the #2 spot on the World Music chart.[3]
In preparation for their third studio album, Celtic Woman performed at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland, on 23 August and 24 August 2006, with this show airing on PBS during December 2006. The studio album, titled Celtic Woman: A New Journey, was released on 30 January 2007, and as with their debut, the live performance was released on DVD simultaneously. This album immediately hit the Billboard 200 at #4[4] and the Billboard World Music chart at #1,[5] bumping their previous two releases down a spot and securing the top three positions on that chart for the group.
In response to the popularity of the performance at Slane Castle in 2006, on 7 December 2007 PBS aired a special concert of Celtic Woman performing again in The Helix Theatre, Dublin, Ireland. This performance included songs from the group’s second album Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration.
A fourth album called Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey was released in October 28, 2008.