Sharon Shannon

Sharon Teresa Shannon, born 8 June 1968 in Ruan, County Clare, is an Irish accordionist, violinist and whistle player whose early years saw her performing with Disirt Tola and touring the United States at fourteen. After studying accordion with Karen Tweed and fiddle with Frank Custy, she joined the founding lineup of Arcady before entering the recording scene in 1989. Her debut studio album, Sharon Shannon (1991), became the best‑selling traditional Irish music album in Ireland and established her as a prominent solo artist. Subsequent releases followed a steady chronology: Out the Gap (1994), Each Little Thing (1997), The Diamond Mountain Sessions (2000) – a triple‑platinum success featuring collaborations with Steve Earle on "The Galway Girl", Jackson Browne, Hothouse Flowers, The Woodchoppers, Carlos Nunez, John Prine and Mary Staunton – and Libertango (2003), featuring Sinéad O'Connor, Kirsty MacColl and Pauline Scanlon. She collaborated with Michael McGoldrick on Tunes (2005), Upside Down (2006) and Renegade (2007). In 2009 she issued a live version of "The Galway Girl" with Mundy, the most downloaded track in Ireland that year and winner of a Meteor Award for Most Downloaded Track; the same year she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Awards. Shannon has toured extensively across Europe, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, and collaborated with artists such as The Waterboys, Sinéad O'Connor, and Nigel Kennedy. She followed up with albums Saints & Scoundrels (2009), Flying Circus (2012), Sacred Earth (2017), The Reckoning (2020) and Now! (2024).