irish | 365 Days Of Inspiring Media

Can I be very candid and honest? I was never a big fan, if a fan at all, of boy bands. Sure I’d know about them from time to time, and more recently there was this wee little band called One Direction (and yes, I will discuss this influential band in length in another post dedicated to them!); but as a whole, boy bands weren’t at all that impacting to me when I was younger. Even now, they aren’t necessarily the most sought-out ‘genre’ of music that I’d listen to from the word ‘go’. Nevertheless, boy bands have shaped and moulded music and society as we know it- from Boyz II Men, Take That, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and Westlife, to Jonas Brothers, Jackson 5, Boyzone and One Direction; boy bands have been sprouting up throughout music history aplenty, and thus, it is no wonder that one such artist from my list of 100 would be of the boy-band variety. And so for me to prepare for this blog post, I was a little unprepared throughout the week, and even now, I’m trying to find the words to say about this artist- words that will do them justice and respect the amount of success they’ve had since being a part of their former boy-band group. For me, this ‘genre’ of music is as much needed in society as it was back then- but when music for lack of a better term, is consumed at a faster rate as years go by; boy bands can sometimes fly under the radar to become the ‘forgotten’ ‘genre’ of music. This week’s discussion leads from the front with singer-songwriter Ronan Keating; an Irish singer who was one of the founding members of boy-band BoyZone, a popular Irish group in the 1990s. With around 10 albums under his belt, Ronan has solidified himself as one such artist, whom has successfully broken off from their former boy-band group, to have a relatively successful career as a solo artist- other artists to achieve such a feat include Robbie Williams (of Take That), Michael Jackson (of The Jackson 5), Ricky Martin (of Menudo) and Justin Timberlake (of NSYNC), to name a few.

Continue reading MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 14: RONAN KEATING →

U2 need no explanation or even introduction as to why they are included on my own 100 influential artists list. Or rather, they need no explanation as to why they should be included on any influential artist list- because, to be frank; this Irish band is one that everyone can unanimously agree upon, and quite deservingly so! For Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr and Adam Clayton are U2, formed in the late 1970s, and are still active today. In fact, dare I say that this band is by far one of history’s most influential rock bands…ever? Like Michael Jackson was to pop, and Backstreet Boys was to boy bands, like Whitney Houston was to powerful female singers, and The Beatles and Elvis was to generally music in general, one can’t deny the impact U2 has had, not only to rock music, but also to music as a whole. For Bono and co. have created music that is honest, and though many of their music can seem a little too honest for what mainstream pop radio wants at the moment; what this band has uncovered long ago that still holds true today is this- that many people, young and old, rich and poor, people of many walks of life, and many different roads of faith, are yearning and wanting the same thing- to connect to a song on a soul level.

Continue reading MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 11: U2 →

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