The best acts Ireland has never seen.
Musicians of every class and calibre cite Ireland as one of their favourite places to play, owing hugely to the atmosphere created by our own particular brand of adoration.
Some of history’s finest tune-smiths, however, never made it to Irish soil, almost always thanks to tragic circumstances.
We’ve compiled a list of seven of the finest musicians never to perform in Ireland.
Jimi Hendrix
Hendrix biopic ‘Jimi: All Is By My Side’, starring OutKast’s Andre 3000, was shot in Dublin and Wicklow – but Hendrix himself never actually performed in Ireland.
Throughout his career, which was cut short by his premature and untimely death, Hendrix played several dates in the UK and toured Europe but never made it to our country. We’d have loved to see his rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann.
Clip via wolfbob man.
Elvis Presley
Surprisingly, Elvis Presley only ever once set foot in the British Isles, and that was as a soldier. While on the way back to America from West Germany his plane stopped to refuel in Prestwick Airport, Scotland. This is as close as Elvis Presley ever came to knocking crowds of screaming Irish ladies unconscious with his unruly hips.
Only 42 when he died, it’s impossible to imagine that he never would have made it here had he lived longer – unfortunately, tragic deaths are a theme of this list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7wz-FZoIA
Clip via Charles Peterson.
NWA
Influential though they were, NWA hadn’t really been at the forefront of anyone’s thoughts prior to the 2015 release of the band’s biopic Straight Outta Compton. Questionable as some details in the movie might be, it remained true to the reality that clashes of ego and Eazy E’s eventual death due to HIV put an end to the LA rap crew before they really got a chance to reconcile and explore their talents as a group.
Ice Cube was in Ireland last week, Dr Dre has performed a few times and DJ Yella is a regular at Fresher’s Week events – but NWA never came to Ireland.
Clip via The Graham Norton Show.
2Pac
When you consider that many hold Tupac Shakur in the highest possible regard as a rapper, it’s astounding to think how short his career really was. The New York-born rapper (who is more regularly associated with the West Coast where he grew up) never got the chance to tour Europe before he was gunned down at the age of 25.
You never know, though, we might get a hologram of him one day.
Clip via tobbexjao.
Notorious BIG
Biggie Smalls suffered the same tragic fate as his rival Tupac little more than six months later when he was also assassinated.
Rap hadn’t quite yet cracked the Irish market back in the 1990s, there were no Kendricks headlining festivals, and it’s a damn shame that talented rappers like Tupac and Biggie never got the chance to showcase their talents across the world.
Clip via StrictlyRapMusic.
The Doors with Jim Morrison
The Doors are yet another legendary act whose flame went out before they had a chance to play in Ireland. Lead singer Jim Morrison joined the 27 club after heart failure in 1971.
The band’s keyboardist Ray Manzarek performed The Doors’ songs in Ireland with other musicians, but passed away in 2013 of cancer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMjCuRp0LwQ
Clip via Peter Kelly.
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin went on a brief tour of Europe and absolutely hated it, criticising the crowds as ‘too cerebral’, too many fans with no desire to ‘get down.’ Maybe she’d have felt differently if she’d traveled to Ireland, God knows we love a good boogie.
Again, it’s a dead cert that Joplin would have made her way eventually had her life not been cut short by drugs.
Clip via cavettbiter.
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