Andrea Jane Corr MBE is an Irish musician, songwriter, and actress. Corr debuted in 1990
as the lead singer of the Celtic folk rock and pop rock group The Corrs along with her
three elder siblings Caroline, Sharon, and Jim. Aside from singing lead vocals Corr plays
the tin whistle and the piano. With the others, Corr has released five studio
albums, two compilation albums, one remix album and two live albums. The Corrs are currently
on hiatus as all four are raising their children. Andrea is also pursuing a solo career, releasing
her debut album, Ten Feet High, in 2007. The album moved away from the folk-rock genre
of The Corrs and features a darker, edgier dance-pop sound. Her next album, released
on 30 May 2011, was entirely made up of covers of songs that were important to her when younger.
In the summer of 2012, she re-recorded the track "Pale Blue Eyes" with German electronic
musician Christopher von Deylen, better known under his alias Schiller. It was released
in Germany on 5 October on the Schiller album Sonne.
Andrea is involved in charitable activities. She has played charity concerts to raise money
for the Pavarotti & Friends Liberian Children's Village, Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon
Tyne, England, the victims of the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland and The Prince's Trust
in 2004. She is an ambassador for the Nelson Mandela's "46664" campaign, raising awareness
towards AIDS in Africa. During the Edinburgh Live 8 on 2 July 2005 The Corrs performed
"When the Stars Go Blue" alongside Bono to promote the Make Poverty History campaign.
Along with her siblings, she was appointed an honorary M.B.E. in 2005 by Queen Elizabeth
II of Great Britain for her contribution to music and charity.
Early years Andrea Corr was born to Gerry Corr, a manager
of the payroll department of the Irish Electricity Supply Board, and his wife, Jean, a housewife.
She is the youngest of the four Corr children. The family were raised in Dundalk, Ireland.
Gerry and Jean had their own band, Sound Affair, which played songs by ABBA and The Eagles
in local pubs in Dundalk where they would often bring along their children.
With the encouragement of her parents, Andrea took up the tin whistle and was taught the
piano by her father. Throughout their teenage years, she and her siblings would often practice
in Jim's bedroom at a house he had rented. Andrea sang lead vocals, Sharon played the
violin and both Caroline and Jim played keyboards. Andrea took part in school plays at her school,
Dundalk's Dun Lughaidh convent. 1990–2006
In 1990 she and her siblings formed a quartet called The Corrs. Their career launched in
1991 when they auditioned for the film The Commitments in which Andrea gained a speaking
role as Sharon Rabbitte. John Hughes noticed the quartet when they auditioned for the movie,
and agreed to become their manager. The Corrs signed with Atlantic Records in 1995 and travelled
to North America to record their debut album Forgiven, Not Forgotten. The album featured
six instrumental selections among its Celtic-influenced tracks. When released, it was successful in
Ireland, Australia, Japan, and Spain. The album reached platinum status in the United
Kingdom and Australia, and quadruple platinum in Ireland, which made it one of the most
popular debuts by an Irish group. Following on from the success of their debut
album, they released Talk on Corners and In Blue in 1997 and 2000 respectively. Originally
Talk on Corners met with lukewarm success, until a remix version was released, when it
topped the charts in many countries, and reached platinum status in the United Kingdom and
Australia. In Blue moved towards mainstream pop, placing heavy emphasis on electronic
synthesisers. It was successful, and was No. 1 in its first sales week in the UK, Ireland,
Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and debuted at No. 2 in France and Norway.
It climbed to the top position during its second week in Sweden and Spain.
During the production of In Blue, their mother, Jean, died while waiting for a lung transplant
in the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, Britain. She was laid to rest at St. Patrick's cemetery
in Dundalk. Bono, Larry Mullen, Brian Kennedy and Paul Brady were among the attendees. "No
More Cry", written by Andrea and Caroline Corr for the album, was dedicated to their
father hoping to help with his grief. In 2003, Andrea recorded "Time Enough For
Tears", a song written by Bono and Gavin Friday for the film In America. This track was featured
on The Corrs' 2004 album Borrowed Heaven. Borrowed Heaven was dedicated to their late
mother, Jean, and their father, Gerry. The band also dedicated their 2005 tribute album
Home to their deceased mother. The band covered many traditional Irish songs taken from their
mother's songbook to commemorate their 15 years as a band.
Solo career While her siblings were on hiatus to raise
their families, Andrea launched a solo career. She released her first album, Ten Feet High,
on 25 June 2007. It was produced by Nellee Hooper, who has worked with Gwen Stefani and
Madonna; Bono was an executive producer. Her first single, "Shame on You" was an up-tempo
pop song about men and women going to war and leaving behind partners they may 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". On 10 April 2009 Andrea announced on Claudia
Winkleman's BBC Radio 2 show that she would be releasing a second album of old songs and
covers. She spoke of her disappointment and how 'gutted' she had been when her 2007 album
Ten Feet High had failed to gain commercial success. She also spoke at length of her experiences
while acting in the play Dancing at Lughnasa and how it has given her hope for upcoming
projects, including a second solo album of 'old songs':
I loved the play; I saw its original production when I was a teenager so I really worked hard
on it and tried to dispel any prejudices that might be there. I'm sensitive about the idea
of a singer-turned-actress, it could give across the impression that a celebrity gets
bored and goes "hey, what'll I do" and that's really not where I'm coming from, I'm very
passionate about this and I have been for a lot of years.
It's a totally different experience, this is the real thing. Fortunately everybody is
incredibly talented really lovely people too and it has been an incredible learning experience
for me. It's not my responsibility to draw in, I just have to play the character. The
way I would perform songs was always about the lyrics and always about trying to speak
to everybody and make them watch and believe what I'm saying and I suppose I'm essentially
doing that here but I'm not looking at the audience I'm obviously looking at the other
actors. I'm really happy to do this. I feel rejuvenated by it, I feel excited again. You're
very much alive, you're very much in the moment, so I feel I'm really living. After I released
my solo record I felt really disappointed, I believed in the record I made but if you
don't have the back-up of your record company investing and marketing it. It's a really
tough job and because I wrote the whole thing I really believed in this record, as did Nellee
Hooper, I was jaded and disappointed. Last year I decided I'm not doing music until I'm
excited again, then this came along and also I did end up making another record which I'll
release at some point. It's just being mastered, it's a lovely album; I didn't write this one,
this is old songs and I have to sort out my situation- I don't want the same problem as
before. I think everybody's enjoyed doing their own
thing. Sharon and Caroline are young mothers, they have young children. Our mother and father
were really were great parents and they hope to be as good a mother as mine, but Sharon's
making her own record and will hopefully release it at some point. But we never finished, we'll
keep it open.' In late January 2011, her new album was announced
for "early summer", and a downloadable MP3 of her cover of John Lennon's Number 9 Dream
was made available to subscribers. Lifelines was released on 30 May.
Acting career Andrea Corr entered the film industry in 1991
with Alan Parker's film, The Commitments where she had a speaking part as Sharon Rabbitte.
In 1996, Parker was directing the film version of the rock opera Evita which starred Madonna.
He was so keen on having Andrea in the film that he cast her as Juan Peron's mistress.
Corr provided the singing voice for Kayley in Warner Brothers' first fully animated film,
1998's The Quest for Camelot. Corr resumed her acting career in 2003 where
she was cast as Anne in The Boys from County Clare. The film was not a commercial success,
but she won the Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Actress in the US Comedy Arts Festival
and was nominated for Best Actress in the IFTA Awards. During the Corrs' hiatus she
was featured in the 2005 film The Bridge and the 2006 film Broken Thread. Corr appeared
as Christina in the play Dancing at Lughnasa staged at The Old Vic theatre in London from
February until May 2009 . She played the title role in Jane Eyre by
Alan Stanford at the Gate Theatre in Dublin which opened on 9 November 2010.
Charitable activities Andrea Corr and her siblings have played charity
concerts to raise money for the Pavarotti & Friends Liberian Children's Village, 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 2 July 2005 The Corrs performed "When the Stars Go Blue" alongside Bono 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 by Queen
Elizabeth II. Corr also partook in a tribute single to the
late member of The Dubliners, Ronnie Drew. Called "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew." The song
was released on 19 February 2008 and was performed by a number of famous Irish musicians. This
included members of U2, Sinéad O'Connor Christy Dignam of Aslan, Robert Hunter of the Grateful
Dead, who wrote the song, Kíla, Christy Moore, Moya Brennan, Shane MacGowan, Bob Geldof,
Damien Dempsey, Gavin Friday, Iona Green, Jerry Fish, Paul Brady, Paddy Casey, Mick
Pyro, Mundy, Chris de Burgh, Ronan Keating, Jack L, Eleanor Shanley, Mary Black, Declan
O'Rourke, Mary Coughlan, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard The Dubliners themselves and The Chieftains.
The single was written to originally include Ronnie himself but was changed to be a tribute
to him as his health was declining. Proceeds from sale of the single went to The Irish
Cancer Society at the request of Drew himself. The song was performed live on The Late Late
Show aired by RTE Entertainment on 22 February with Ronnie Drew in attendance as an audience
member, and entered the Irish Single Charts at No. 2.
On 10 October 2010, Corr, amongst others, contributed to the Kirsty MacColl tribute
concert held at Shepherd's Bush Empire to commemorate MacColl's birthday and raise money
for charity. She also wrote and sang the song 'Oh Brother' on the album 'Music of Ireland
– Welcome Home.' On 30 November 2012, Corr lent her support
to Kate Winslet's Golden Hat Foundation together with Tim Janis, Sarah McLachlan, Loreena McKennitt,
Hayley Westenra, performing on "The American Christmas Carol" concert in Carnegie Hall.
Personal life Corr previously dated English actor Shaun
Evans, her co-star from The Boys from County Clare, for four years from 2003 to 2007. Corr
is married to Brett Desmond, son of billionaire Dermot Desmond. They married in St Joseph's
Church in Milltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland on 21 August 2009.
Sharon Corr and Caroline Corr sang "No Frontiers" at the wedding, and Damien Dempsey, Sharon
Shannon and Seamus Begley also performed on stage in the church as did Corr herself. In
November 2011, Corr's first pregnancy was announced. Corr gave birth to daughter Jean
on 29 April 2012, and son Brett Jr. on 4 January 2014.
Corr's paternal uncle, Peter Corr, was a professional footballer who played for Ireland and several
clubs including Everton. Discography
Studio albums Singles
Filmography
Stage roles
References
Further reading Cornwell, Jane, The Corrs, London: Virgin
Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-85227-840-4 Gaster, Paul, The Corrs: 'Corner To Corner,
Andre Deutsch Ltd. ISBN 978-0-233-99634-9 Nichols, Todd, The Corrs 'Their Music, Their
Lives, Their Legacy, Blackhall Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84218-031-0
External links Andrea Corr official website
Andrea Corr official MySpace The Corrs' official website
Disfrutaloscorrs.es