The Chieftains have received six Grammy Awards and been nominated a total of eighteen times.
The Chieftains
Changing Musicians
LandMark Performances
Film Soundtracks
Singing with the Stars
The Chieftains videos
The awards are for the following albums.
Another Country
Another Country was recorded in Nashville and features several cameo performances from American stars like Emmy Lou Harris, Don Williams and Chet Atkins.
It won two Grammy awards in 1993 for the Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Traditional Folk Album. It was also nominated in three other categories.
An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House
An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, recorded with Nanci Griffith and Roger Daltrey in 1991.
It won a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Traditional Album.
Celtic Harp
Celtic Harp won the a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1994. It was recorded with the Belfast Harp Orchestra and featured music from the 17th century.
The album was a tribute to the folk music collector Edward Bunting who was responsible for collecting huge numbers of Irish folk songs and tunes, including some performed by The Chieftains.
The Long Black Veil
The Long Black Veil featured guest appearances from a host of pop and rock stars including Tom Jones, Ry Cooder, The Rolling Stone and Sinead O’Connor.
The track featuring Van Morrison singing Have I Told You Lately won The Chieftains a Grammy award for Best Pop Collaboration with vocals in 1996.
Santiago
Santiago combines traditional Irish music with Celtic influences from Galicia in north western Spain.
The album also featured Ry Cooder and won in the Best World Music category in 1997.
The Long Journey Home: The Irish in America
The Long Journey Home: The Irish in America The Chieftains provided the music for the documentary of the same name.
It features Van Morrison singing Shenandoah, and Sinead O’Connor singing Skibbereen.
It won a Grammy in the Best Traditional Folk category in 1998. The soundtrack also won the band their first Emmy Award.
The band have also been nominated for Grammy Awards for several other albums including Water from the Well in 2000, Down the old Plank Road – the Nashville Sessions in 2002
Other awards given to The Chieftains
- The Chieftains were made Chiefs of the Oklahoma Choctaw Nation in 1995.
It came about after the band discovered that the Nation had tried to help Ireland during the potato famine in the 1840s. Moloney contacted the Nation to thank them and they responded by making the award – the first time it has been bestowed on a non-native American. - The Chieftains were given the tile of Ireland’s Musical Ambassadors by the Irish Government in 1989.
- They received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Folk Awards in in 2002.
- The Chieftaints received a special tribute from Irish President McAleese in 2002 for their contribution to Irish culture.
- Paddy Moloney was awarded the Golden Badge of the Songwriters and Composers Society in London in 2001. He was also made an Honorary Doctor of Music by Trinity College, Dublin.
- In 2010, Moloney was awarded the Medal of Honour by the National Arts Club in the US.
The Chieftains roll call of musicians
Landmark Performances by The Chieftains
The Chieftains music used on film soundtracks
The Chieftains performing with other music stars
Music videos from the legendary Irish band The Chieftains
