Having watched Julien Temple's film about McGowan, in which Shane speaks about the number of people forced to leave Ireland during the Hunger and about the Irish diaspora, particularly in London and the East coast of America, I wondered which musicians have some Irish heritage. Of course The Beatles, The Smiths, Oasis, Dexys, Lydon, but also Kate Bush, Presley, Cobain, Hendrix, Springsteen, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Britney, Mariah Carey, Teylor Swift. The list seems to go on and on and on. I was half expecting to see that ABBA's great grandparents had arrived in Sweden from County Kerry (or Mayo of course).
I should note that this is not an excuse for posting Ed Sheeran's 'Galway Girl' to this thread. Instead, here's Phil Chevron's masterpiece that tells the story of some of those who left:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27iJsZpQn3A
Can I just say that I am stunned and impressed by the deep musical knowledge of NSC members. There are some fantastic recommendations on here, some I had forgotten and some I'd never heard before. I salute you all...