Andrea Corr

EARLY YEARS

Andrea Jane Corr was born on 17th May 1974 to Gerry Corr, a manager of the payroll department of the Irish Electricity Board, and his wife, Jean, a homemaker. Andrea is the younger sister of Jim (born 1964), Sharon (born 1970), and Caroline (born 1973). Gerry and Jean raised their family in Dundalk, Ireland. They had their own band, Sound Affair, which played songs by Abba and The Eagles in local pubs 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, Andrea 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 play keyboards. Moreover, Andrea took part in school plays at her school, Dundalk's Dun Lughaidh convent.

1990-2006: THE CORRS

In 1990, Andrea and her siblings formed a quartet, called The Corrs. Andrea had joined the band directly from school. Their career took off in 1991 when they auditioned for the film The Commitments where Andrea got a speaking part as Sharon Rabbitte. John Hughes noticed them when they auditioned for the movie, and agreed to become their manager

The Corrs signed with Atlantic Records in 1995 and travelled to the USA to record their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten. The album featured six instrumental selections among its Celtic-influenced tracks. The album sold well in Ireland and in Australia, Japan, and Spain. Major success in the United States and the United Kingdom, however, was not immediately forthcoming. Eventually, 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.

The Corrs' next album, 1997's Talk On Corners, was produced by Glen Ballard, and they had collaborated with Ballard, Carole Bayer Sagar, Oliver Leiber, Rick Nowels, and Billy Steinberg. The album was initially met with lukewarm responses but when they released a new version that had a cover of Fleetwood Mac's classic song "Dreams" as an extra track, it topped the charts in many countries, and again reached platinum status in the United Kingdom and Australia.

In 2000, The Corrs returned to mainstream success with In Blue. Unlike their previous albums, In Blue broke away from their Irish traditional influenced pop to a more mainstream pop sound. For this album, The Corrs worked with Alejandro Sanz on In Blue, recording "Una Noche (One Night)", and Robert Lange. In Blue hit #1 in its first sales week in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and debuted at #2 in France and Norway. It climbed to the top position during its second week in Sweden and Spain. At this time, since the 1999/2000 Corrs tour, Andrea had started to perform on stage in her bare feet.

During the production of the album, Andrea's mother, Jean, died while waiting for a lung transplant in Freeman Hospital, Newcastle. She was laid to rest at St. Patrick's cemetery in Dundalk, and Bono, Larry Mullen Jnr, Brian Kennedy, and Paul Brady were among the funeral's attendees. "No More Cry", written by Andrea and Caroline Corr for the album, was dedicated to their father to get over 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 also featured on The Corrs' 2004 album, Borrowed Heaven. The album was dedicated to their late mother, Jean, and their father, Gerry. Once again, Borrowed Heaven contained minimal use of tradional instruments, in favour of a more pop sound. In October 2005, the band released their fifth studio album, Home, a traditional Irish album celebrating their musical roots, many of the songs coming from their late mother's songbook to commemorate their 15 years as a band. However, there was minimal promotion and no tour, and as a result, Home didn't sell as well as previous albums.

2006-present: SOLO CAREER

While her siblings are on hiatus to raise their families, Andrea has launched a solo career. She released her first solo album, Ten Feet High, on 25th June 2007. It was produced by Nelle Hooper, who has worked with Gwen Stefani and Madonna, while Bono was an executive producer. Andrea's 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 Andrea'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". Q magazine's John Aizlewood wrote "the linchpin of a most conservative group has suddenly started taking chances."

Andrea has played only a handful of live shows to date, the first being in Barcelona in September 2007.

On 10th April 2009, Andrea announced on Claudia Winkleman's Radio 2 show she would be releasing a second album of old songs and covers, and she also spoke of her dissapointment 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. "I loved the play; I saw it’s 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 (in the play) is incredibly talented and really lovely people too and it has been an incredible learning experience for me. It’s not my responsibility to draw the audience 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 (the band) never finished, we’ll keep it open."

ACTING CAREER

Andrea formally entered the film industry in 1991 with Alan Parker's film, The Commitments, where she got a speaking part as Sharon Rabbitte. The movie was a launching pad for The Corrs' career where John Hughes noticed them and had agreed to become their manager. 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 casted her as Juan Peron's mistress. However, though the mistress sings the memorable "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" in the stage production, in the film, Madonna sings the bulk of the song, with Andrea only singing one line. Moreover, she provided the singing voice for Kayley in Warner Brothers' first fully animated film, 1998's The Quest For Camelot. The film featured two new songs sung by Andrea and penned by David Foster and Carol Bayer Sagar: "On My Father's Wings" and a duet with Bryan White, "Looking Through Your Eyes". These two songs were ultimately featured in the soundtrack.

Andrea resumed her acting career in 2003 where she was cast as Anne in The Boys And Girl From County Clare. The film was not a commercial success, but Andrea won the Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Actress in the U.S.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 following year appeared in Broken Thread. Nevertheless, these films were not successful.

Andrea appeared as Christina in the play Dancing At Lughnasa, staged at The Old Vic theatre in London from February until May 2009.

PHILANTHROPY

Andrea, along with her siblings, have been keen philanthropists throughout their career. They 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 charity concert on 2nd 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.

FILMS

The Commitments(1991).... Sharon Evita(1996).... Juan Peron's mistress Quest For Camelot(1998).... Kayley(singing voice) The Boys and Girl From County Clare(2003).... Anne The Bridge(2005).... Mary Broken Thread(2006).... Lily

ALBUMS

Ten Feet High(2007)

SINGLES

Shame On You(2007) Champagne From A Straw(2007)