Bill Whelan facts for kids

William Michael Joseph Whelan (born 22 May 1950) is a famous Irish composer and musician. He is most well-known for creating the music for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest interval act. This piece, called "Riverdance", was seven minutes long. It featured new music with traditional Irish stepdance.

"Riverdance" became a huge full stage show. It started a worldwide interest in Irish traditional music and dance. Bill Whelan won a Grammy Award for the "Riverdance" soundtrack album. The "Riverdance" song was released in 1994. It was number one in Ireland for 18 weeks. It also reached number nine in the UK music charts.

Bill Whelan later created a special orchestral version of Riverdance. The Ulster Orchestra performed it for the first time in 2014. A recording of this version was released on CD in 2018.

About Bill Whelan

Bill Whelan grew up in Limerick city, Ireland. He studied at Crescent College and then at University College Dublin. In 2011, he received a special award from University College Dublin. This award was for his amazing work and his impact on Irish music around the world.

While "Riverdance" is his most famous work, Bill Whelan has been part of many exciting music projects since the 1970s. He has worked as a music producer for famous bands like U2 and artists like Van Morrison. He also worked with traditional Irish groups like The Dubliners and Planxty.

Music for Theatre and Film

As a composer and arranger, Bill Whelan has created music for many different projects:

• From 1989 to 1993, he wrote original music for plays by the famous writer W. B. Yeats. These plays were part of a festival at Dublin's Abbey Theatre.
• He composed The Seville Suite in 1992. This music was inspired by the journey of Red Hugh O'Donnell. O'Donnell traveled from the Battle of Kinsale in Ireland to Galicia, Spain. The Seville Suite uses an orchestra. It also features Celtic Music instruments like Uilleann Pipes, accordion, bodhrán, and fiddle. It also includes Galician harp and pipes.
• In 1993, he wrote The Spirit of Mayo. This piece honored a special event called Mayo 5000. An 85-piece orchestra performed it. It also had a strong Celtic drum group and a 200-person choir called Anúna.
• His 2009 work, The Connemara Suite, features the Irish Chamber Orchestra. It also includes soloists like Zoë Conway and Colin Dunne.

In theatre, Bill Whelan was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. This was for his new version of the musical H.M.S. Pinafore. He has also composed music for several films. These include Dancing at Lughnasa, which starred Meryl Streep. He also scored Some Mother's Son and Lamb, starring Liam Neeson.

Key Moments in His Career

Bill Whelan's long music career includes many important moments:

• 1970: He composed the main music theme for the film Bloomfield.
• 1979: He joined the popular Irish folk band Planxty as a keyboard player.
• 1980: He helped arrange and produce What's Another Year. This song, sung by Johnny Logan, won the Eurovision Song Contest that year.
• 1981: He composed Timedance with Dónal Lunny. His band Planxty performed it during the Eurovision interval act.
• 1983: He produced the song "The Refugee" for the famous band U2 on their album War.
• 1987: He produced Hold Me Now for Johnny Logan. This song also won the Eurovision Song Contest.
• 1992: He was asked to compose The Seville Suite.
• 1994: He composed Riverdance for the Eurovision Song Contest interval. This performance was a huge success. It led to the very popular stage show.
• 1997: He won a Grammy Award for the Riverdance album.
• 2000: The Riverdance show opened on Broadway in New York City.
• 2006: He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Music Awards.
• 2008: He released his Celtic orchestral album The Connemara Suite.
• 2022: Bill Whelan's autobiography, The Road To Riverdance, was published.

Music Albums He Worked On

Bill Whelan has played keyboards or helped arrange music on many albums. Here are some of them:

• The Woman I Loved So Well (Planxty) (1980)
• Words & Music (Planxty) (1983)
• Irish Times (Patrick Street) (1990)
• Rude Awakening (Andy Irvine) (1991)
• East Wind (Andy Irvine & Davy Spillane) (1992)
• The Seville Suite (various artists) (1992)
• Riverdance: Music from the Show (various artists) (1995)
• The Best of Patrick Street (Patrick Street) (1995)
• Some Mother's Son (various artists) (1996)
• Dancing at Lughnasa (various artists) (1998)
• Riverdance on Broadway (various artists) (2000)
• Zoe Conway (Zoe Conway) (2002)
• The Connemara Suite (2008)
• Riverdance A Symphonic Suite (2018)