Mary Black
Mary Black (born 23 May 1955)[1] is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland.[2]
For other people named Mary Black, see Mary Black (disambiguation).Background[edit]
Mary Black was born into a musical family on Charlemont Street in Dublin, Ireland, and had four siblings. She was educated at St Louis High School, Rathmines. Her father was a fiddler, who came from Rathlin Island off the coast of northern Ireland, and her mother was a singer. Her brothers Shay and Michael Black have their own musical group called the Black Brothers and her younger sister Frances would go on to achieve great success as a singer in the 90s. From this musical background, Mary began singing traditional Irish songs at the age of eight. As she grew older, she began to perform with her siblings (Shay, Michael and Martin Black) in small clubs around Dublin.[3]
Musical style[edit]
For a number of years, What Hi-Fi? magazine considered Black's voice to be so pure, that it was used as an audiophile benchmark for comparing the sound quality of different high fidelity systems.[9] Music critic and lyricist Michael Leahy once said: "Over the years, Mary Black has come to define what many people see as the essence of Irish woman singers: profound, slightly ethereal and beyond the reaches of trends."[10] Today, Black is held in high esteem in her native Ireland and beyond and is regarded as one of the most important Irish vocalists of her generation.
Personal life[edit]
Mary is married to Joe O'Reilly, of Dara Records (established 1983), and they have two sons (Conor and Danny) and a daughter (Róisín). Her son Danny is a member of the Irish rock band The Coronas, while Róisín is performing under the name Róisín O.[11][12][13] They reside in Dublin, but spend much time in County Kerry.