For over a quarter of a century, Ricky Warwick’s life and career has straddled two continents. It takes a certain kind of intuition to harvest the best of both worlds and to fashion a life and body of work built on integrity, humility and respect.
It’s apparent in his music. Ricky remains undoubtedly one of the hardest working men in rock n roll. That ethos, formed and forged in the farm fields of Northern Ireland’s County Down countryside, stood the teenager in the greatest of stead when he first came to pick up a guitar at the age of 13.
There had always been music, both at home and also in Belfast. Throughout the 1970s and early 80s, the city was front and centre of the punk revolution. It begged the question, “How you gonna keep him down on the farm, once he’s seen Stiff Little Fingers?”
The answer was... You couldn’t.
A year later the Warwick family moved to Strathaven in Scotland. It was here where the spark of musical desire became a flame. Writing and practising every day, Ricky Warwick found himself drafted into the acclaimed UK punk/folk band New Model Army for their 1987 world tour.
The young guitarist had crossed the Rubicon. The taste of opportunity was on his tongue.
A short time later, Warwick formed The Almighty in Glasgow, Scotland. Drive, focus and raw talent catapulted the four-piece into a halcyon spell of achievement. Ten Top 40 singles and four UK Top 20 albums followed. The band toured extensively, sharing the stage with some of the biggest names in rock music (including Iron Maiden, Motörhead, The Ramones and Megadeth) whilst building a legendary, loyal and formidable fanbase along the way.
The ache for home lives in us all and, in 2002, Ricky returned to Ireland. It was here that he recorded his first solo album, Tattoos & Alibis, produced and recorded by Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott in his Dublin studio. The record was the first indication that Warwick had the remarkable capacity to cross genre, style and pace with consummate ease and, more importantly, with authenticity.
Ricky Warwick lives in Los Angeles for now, but that draw of home is overpowering. A relocation to the idyllic Northern Ireland countryside in the shadow of his beloved Scrabo Tower is well on course – yet another exciting chapter in the musician’s life, which will undoubtedly inspire new work, new music and new life.
As a solo artist, with a reputation in the industry for delivering in spades, he would continue to find success, touring globally with Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Bryan Adams and Lynyrd Skynyrd .
It’s fair to say that Ricky Warwick is the kid who lived his dream. There lies a hundred million mile journey from being that boy trawling the wire-windowed record shops of battle weary Belfast in search of Thin Lizzy’s latest release, to walking onto the stage of Slane Castle in Ireland as their frontman, but this is the journey Ricky Warwick has made. There are few who could take on that mantle with the respect and reverence the role entailed, a feat the Ulsterman achieved to critical acclaim.
In 2012, a phone call from his great friend, iconic Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham, offered Ricky the front and centre spot in the reformed lineup of the Irish rock behemoth. A blistering period of touring and performing at the top table of rock engendered a wave of unstoppable creativity.
Keen not to dilute the Thin Lizzy legacy, yet determined to create new music, Warwick would play a pivotal part in the formation of Black Star Riders, fronting and writing on a string of highly acclaimed BSR records and tours. A hugely popular entity in their own right, Black Star Riders to date have released five Top 40 albums, two Top 10 albums, and have been playlisted on a regular basis on BBC Radio 2.
Ricky Warwick is a man who can’t stand still. There’s too much to be done and only 24 hours in every day. His love of performing as a solo artist is palpable, as at home in front of a mic and slinging an acoustic guitar as he is at the epicentre of a bank of Marshalls. The solo albums continue to land with the accuracy of a perfectly flighted arrow.
The man’s creativity continues to roar with the force of a mountain river. It is simply unstoppable, as is apparent in his latest work Blood Ties, due for release 14th March 2025.
Acknowledging that it was time to mine a deep seam for this record, the busiest man in the business has left nothing in the dressing room. Big cathartic guitar sounds and life-affirming, often joyous assessments of where he stands in this time and place make this album a standout piece of work in a career that has spanned over four decades. The Northern Irish man has spent his time well and the foundations for an album such as Blood Ties have been laid on solid ground.
As a solo artist and an esteemed singer/songwriter in his own right, Ricky Warwick has also collaborated with some of the finest musicians on the planet, with Blood Ties featuring Billy Duffy (The Cult), Lita Ford and Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke).
Having written with his friend and creative compadre Mr Keith Nelson (Buckcherry) for this album, Ricky stresses that the guitars are turned up “beyond driven” on Blood Ties. When Warwick is as happy as this with a new work, you can rest assured there’s another hit album barrelling down the track... And it’s coming at a pace.
