A songwriter like no other! Damien Rice is an Irish artist now known the world over for his stripped-down but emotionally charged songs and ballads. Many equate him with great songwriters like Jeff Buckley or Bob Dylan.
Damien Rice was born on December 7, 1973 in Celbridge, a small town less than 20km from Dublin. He soon discovered the world of music, learning guitar and piano as a youngster. He proved to be very gifted at composition and improvisation, and began composing his own music as a teenager.
In 1999, he became the lead singer of the band Juniper, but his experience with the group didn’t prove satisfying enough for his taste. He left Juniper after 2 singles, and decided to pursue a solo career.
In the meantime, Damien Rice has recruited some talented musicians for his next album, as well as a singer: Lisa Hannigan, an Irishwoman whose exceptional voice will enable Damien Rice to give greater intensity to his compositions.
After a few months spent writing and composing, he finally recorded his first album, entitled “0”, and managed to land a contract with a record label. In 2002, O was distributed in Ireland and the rest of the world.
The album was a huge success in Ireland, with people snapping it up and calling it one of the best albums of all time behind U2’s Joshua Tree. We particularly like the singles “Delicate”, “Cannonball”, “Volcano” and “The Blower’s Daughter”.
The only disappointment is that success in Europe and the U.S. has been much more muted, and Damien Rice is just another artist’s name. The fault lies mainly with the cruel lack of media coverage of his album in countries like France.
The promotion of his album gave him the opportunity to familiarize himself with the stage, and showed a real talent for moving crowds. After touring extensively, Damien Rice returned to songwriting, recording the album “9” with Lisa Hannigan in 2006, which proved a much bigger global success than O!
Numerous American films and TV series (Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Shrek…etc.) feature his tracks in their montages. Highlights include the single “9 Crimes” and “Rootless Tree”. Damien Rice embarks on a tour that sells out fast. The concerts were of the highest quality, and received some of the best reviews in the business!
However, it was on March 25 2007 that Damien Rice announced the end of his collaboration with Lisa Hannigan, considering that the duo had reached the end of their creative journey.
