The Corrs are a Celtic folk-rock and pop rock group originating from Dundalk, Republic of Ireland. The band consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea Corr (lead vocals, tin whistle), Sharon Corr (backing vocals, violin), Caroline Corr (backing vocals, bodhrán, drums) and Jim Corr (guitar, backing vocals, keyboard). They are well known for their hit singles, including their debut single, "Runaway" and "Breathless". While Jim and Caroline are the only siblings to be credited playing the piano on their albums, all four members can play the piano, which was taught to them by their father.

The band gained international attention with their performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics which was followed by their debut album Forgiven Not Forgotten which was produced by Their first two albums came under the folk rock genre but their third album, In Blue moved towards mainstream pop with electronic synthesisers. Their next album, Borrowed Heaven returned to their original genre of folk rock whilst placing a heavier emphasis on guitars.

In 2005, the band released Home which featured traditional Irish music that spanned for over 1000 years, as a tribute to their 15 year career. During that same year, all four Corrs siblings received honorary MBEs for their contributions to music and charity. The Corrs are currently on hiatus because Sharon, Jim and Caroline are raising their children and Andrea is currently pursuing a solo career.

The Corr siblings were born to Gerry Corr, a manager of the payroll department of the Irish Electricity Board, and his wife, Jean, a homemaker, and was raised in Dundalk, Ireland. Their parents had formed their own band, Sound Affair, which played ABBA and The Eagles songs in local pubs. With the encouragement of their parents, Jim took guitar and piano lessons, Sharon played the violin, Caroline studied the piano and drums, and Andrea took up the tin whistle.

Jim and Sharon began playing locally as a duo, but brought in their younger siblings to form a quartet in 1990. Their career took off in 1991 when they auditioned for the film The Commitments. Jim, Sharon, and Caroline had a small part as musicians, while Andrea got a speaking part as Sharon Rabbitte. When they auditioned for the movie, they were noticed by John Hughes who agreed to become their manager. John Hughes was initially a member of Minor Detail; the first Irish band to be signed up to an American label.

After forming in 1991, the band enjoyed success in Ireland until 1994, when the band took off internationally. The American ambassador of Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, invited the group to perform at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, in Boston, after seeing them play a gig at the Whealans Music Bar in Dublin. This performance also led to them becoming the supporting act for Celine Dion on her 1996 world tour in America, where the group had joined just after an appearance at the 1996 Summer Olympics that was held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

During their performance in America, they were recommended by Jason Flom, Atlantic Records's vice director and producer, to meet with David Foster who is a Canadian musician, producer, composer and arranger. The Corrs played live for Foster and he had agreed to sign them up to Atlantic Records. Hence, they'd extended their stay in America for over a period of five months to record their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten.

Their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, featured six instrumental selections among its Celtic-influenced tracks. The album sold well in Ireland, as well as countries as such as Australia, Japan, and Spain. Major success in the United States and the United Kingdom, however, was not immediately forthcoming. Eventually, the album had reached platinum in the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as four times platinum in Ireland which made it one of the most popular debuts by an Irish group.

The Corrs had enlisted with Glen Ballard, respected for his collaboration with Alanis Morrisette. They also collaborated with Carole Bayer Sager, Glen Ballard, Oliver Leiber, Rick Nowells, Billy Steinberg for their following album, Talk On Corners, which was released in 1997. Andrea Corr had explained the genre of the sophomore album saying: However, the album was met with lukewarm responses where it was only successful within Ireland. Nevertheless, in 1998, The Corrs performed from the album at a televised St. Patrick's Day appearance at London's Royal Albert Hall. The performance consisted of a special remixed version of the tracks from their first two albums. With the success of the performance, the band re-released Talk on Corners which featured new remixes of "What Can I Do?", "So Young" and "Runaway". The special edition topped the charts among many countries, where again, it reached platinum status in the United Kingdom and Australia.

In February 1999, The Corrs received a BRIT Award for Best International Band while they were touring. Subsequently, they also performed on MTV's Unplugged series live on 5 October 1999 in front of an audience at Ardmore Studios, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. The CD and DVD featured live performances of their previously released songs, as well as a new song that was featured in In Blue, "Radio" and it had sold 2.7 million copies.

In 2000, The Corrs returned to mainstream success with In Blue. Unlike their previous albums, In Blue broke away from the folk rock genre to the pop music genre. This move attracted criticism from many critics, where one Entertainment Weekly critic called it a "a disheartening example of musical ethnic cleansing". Despite this, In Blue hit #1 in its first sales week in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria; climbed to the top in week two in Sweden and Spain; and had No. 2 debuts in France and Norway.

The Corrs had worked with Alejandro Sanz in this album. They had recorded "Una Noche (One Night)" as a duet between Sanz and Andrea, where Sanz had played the love interest of Andrea in the music video. In return, The Corrs performed "Me Iré (The Hardest Day)" with him on his album, El Alma Al Aire. They had also collaborated with Robert Lange, the wife of Shania Twain, for this album. Together, they produced a mainstream hit single, "Breathless". Breathless reached #34 in the Billboard Hot 100,, #7 in Australia, #3 in Ireland and New Zealand, as well as #1 in the United Kingdom. Overall, the album went straight to #1 in the Irish album charts, and has the third highest sales for week of release in Ireland in the history of the charts, behind U2’s "The Best of 1980-1990" and Oasis' "Be Here Now". Also, the album has reached platinum in the United States, 2x Platinum in the United Kingdom and 4x Platinum in Australia.

During the production of the album, their mother, Jean Corr had died whilst waiting for a lung transplant in Freeman Hospital, Newcastle. She was laid to rest at St. Patrick's cemetery in Dundalk, where many people attended the ceremony such as Bono, Larry Mullen, Brian Kennedy and Paul Brady. As a result, one track from the album, "No More Cry", which was written by Andrea and Caroline Corr, was dedicated to their father to get over his grief.

In 2001, the Corrs had released their first compilation album, Best of The Corrs. The compilation album featured previously released songs as well as new tracks such as the single "Would You Be Happier", "Make You Mine" and "Lifting Me". The album did not chart high in Ireland but it managed to reach platinum status in Australia.

Moreover, the Corrs have composed a duet, Canto Alla Vita with Josh Groban for his eponymous debut album. When the band returned to Ireland, they hosted a concert in front of an audience at Ardmore Studios, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, where they performed for the MTV's Unplugged series live on 5 October 1999. Guest performers included Bono from U2 and Ron Wood from the Rolling Stones. During the concert Bono joined Andrea Corr for a duet of Nancy Sinatra's "Summer Wine" and a performance of Ryan Adams' "When the Stars Go Blue", whilst Ron Wood joined the band on stage to play guitar on their version of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" as well as the Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday. These live performances were recorded and put into a live album: VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin. This live album was only released in America.

In 2003, Andrea Corr recored "Time Enough For Tears", which was written by Bono and Gavin Friday for In America which was directed by Jim Sheridan. This track was also featured in their 2004 album, Borrowed Heaven. Made over an 18-month period, Borrowed Heaven was recorded in Dublin and Los Angeles and produced by Olle Romo, who had previously worked with Melanie C and Kelly Clarkson. Also, Jason Duffy had temporarily joined the band, taking over for Caroline as she was raising her child. Borrowed Heaven was dedicated to their late mother, Jean, along with their father, Gerry. The album returned to the folk rock genre with a slightly more heavier emphasis on guitars. Nevertheless, the album was not as successful as their predecessor albums, where it only managed to reach Silver status in the UK.

Again, the band dedicated their 2005 tribute album, Home, to their deceased mother. Home is regarded as a traditional Irish album, where the band had covered many traditional Irish songs, to commemorate their 15 years as a band that started in 1990. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and it featured the BBC Radio 2 Orchestra.

The songs were taken from their late mother's songbook and it spans over 1000 years. From "Return to Fingal" where music scholars say is at least 1,000 years old, to "Old Town," a song written in 1982 by late Thin Lizzy frontman, Phil Lynott. It also includes several songs in Gaelic, "Brid Og Ni Mhaille (Bridget O'Malley)" and "Buachaill On Eirne (Boy from Ireland)". Similar to their previous album, Home had very little success outside Ireland as it, once again, only managed to reach Silver status in the UK.

From the beginning of 2006, the Corrs are currently on hiatus as Sharon, Jim and Caroline are raising their own families whilst Andrea is pursuing her solo career. Sharon had married Gavin Bonnar, a Belfast barristar on July 29, 2001. Since then, they've had two children: Cathal Robert Gerard and Flori Jean Elizabeth Bonnar. Jim's child, Brandon was born in 2006 to his ex-fiance, the former Miss Northern Ireland, Gayle Williamson. Gayle and Jim have since separated. Caroline married Frank Woods, a property developer in Majorca, Spain on August 22, 2002. They currently have three children, Jake, Georgina and Rihann.

Andrea has released her first solo album, Ten Feet High on June 25, 2007. It was produced by Nellee Hooper, who has worked with Gwen Stefani and Madonna, with Bono acting as an executive producer. Her first single, "Shame on You (to Keep My Love from Me)" is an up-tempo pop song about how men and women go off to war leaving behind partners that they will never see again. It received positive reviews from music critics. IndieLondon described the song as a "slick package" that was "polished, well produced and with a message that's difficult to ignore". Losing Today's David Adair gave the song a strong review, writing that Corr's vocals were "crisp and uplifting". Liverpool's Daily Post gave the song a three star rating, commenting that it was "deceptively upbeat" which masked its "heavier message about conscription and war".

During their hiatus, the Corrs had released another compilation album on November 20, 2006 entitled Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection. The album consisted of remixes of original tracks that had been previously released. However, the album charted poorly as it only managed to reach #24 in Ireland.

Some exciting rumours are floating around at the moment indicating that The Corrs are set to reform in 2008. Due to the lack of sales regarding Andrea's solo venture, several tabloids have printed articles revealing that the Corrs are set to pen a new album and tour again, starting with the reformation of the band next year.

The Corrs have been keen philanthropists throughout their career. They have played charity concerts to raise money for the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, the victims of the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland, and The Prince's Trust in 2004. They are also ambassadors for the Nelson Mandela's "46664" campaign, where they performed live to raise awareness towards AIDS in Africa. During the Edinburgh Live 8 on July 2, 2005, The Corrs alongside Bono performed "When the Stars Go Blue" to promote the Make Poverty History campaign. In recognition for their charity performances, the Corrs were made Honorary Members of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 where the award headed by Queen Elizabeth II.

* 1995: Forgiven Not Forgotten * 1997: Talk on Corners * 2000: In Blue * 2004: Borrowed Heaven * 2005: Home

* 2001: Best of The Corrs * 2006: Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection * 2007: The Works

* 1997: The Corrs - Live * 1999: The Corrs Unplugged * 2002: VH1 Presents: The Corrs, Live in Dublin

*Music of Ireland *List of artists who reached number one in Ireland *List of celebrities who have been awarded the Order of the British Empire

*The Corrs Official Website