THE Folksinger
Luke Kelly
Born: November 17th 1940 in Dublin
Died: January 30th 1984
Lead vocal and 5-string banjo
Member of the Dubliners: 1962-1963 & 1964-1984
Luke Kelly is widely regarded as THE folksinger. Together with Ronnie Drew, Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna he started the Ronnie Drew Folk Group, but after having read James Joyce's "Dubliners", thought that the Dubliners was a good name for the group. In the early sixties, Luke Kelly left the Dubliners for a year to go to England. He joined Ian Campbell, and met many of the great Britsh folk musicians, like Ewan MacColl, from whom he learnt a lot of songs which can be heard on the Dubliners' albums. Luke always made a point that he wanted people to enjoy and listen to Irish folk music. If he had to sing the same songs over and over again, he didn't care, if that was what the audience wanted to hear. In the late 70s, Luke became, and in 1980 a braintumour was discovered, and the following years were a struggle for Luke. Still, after he became ill, he joined the Dubliners as much as he possibly could. If he could not be on stage the whole concert, he could still do some songs. 15 years after his death, Luke Kelly is a sore loss to the world of folk music, to The Dubliners, and to his family and friends. In 1999, a documentary on Luke's life has been made, and it will be shown on TV and hopefully be for sale late 99. During the making of the documentary, previously unreleased songs by Luke were discovered, and hopefully they will be released on cd as well. Luke was not only a tremendous singer and performer, by the way. He was also regarded as a very talented footballer.
After his death, "The Luke Kelly Memorial Fund" for brain research was launched, and The Dubliners and guests have had concerts in support of this fund