Darren Wharton

Darren Wharton
Wharton performing in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Darren Leigh Wharton
Born	(1961-12-24) 24 December 1961 (age 55) Failsworth, Lancashire, England, UK
Genres	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, keytar, organ, minimoog
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Legend Records
Associated acts	Thin Lizzy, Dare

Darren Leigh Wharton (born 24 December 1961) is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. His son, Paris, is also a musician.

Wharton was born in Failsworth, Lancashire in 1961. Thin Lizzy had not had a keyboard player since their early gigs in Ireland, and Wharton was contacted by Phil Lynott while performing with a cover band. He was only 17 when he contributed keyboards to their 1980 album Chinatown. By the following year on the album Renegade he had become an official member of the band, co writing the opening track "Angel of Death" with Lynott.

Wharton continued with the band on the follow-up Thunder And Lightning in 1983, having a greater share in the writing credits, including the band's final single "The Sun Goes Down", but that year Lynott announced the break-up of Thin Lizzy.

Wharton also worked with Lynott on the latter's 1982 solo recording The Philip Lynott Album where he played on most of the record's eleven tracks, and provided the striking piano solo on the single "Old Town". In 1999 Darren reunited with Thin Lizzy touring Europe and the US documented on the 2000 live album One Night Only.

He resurfaced with his own band Dare, which had formed in 1985, and its 1988 album Out of Silence. Following his move to North Wales in 1992, their music has come to reflect a more Celtic influence. After forming his own label Legend Records, the 2001 Dare album Belief was featured on Terry Wogan's BBC Radio 2 breakfast show when the single "White Horses" was played every week for three months. In 2004, now signed to Warners ADA Music, Dare released their Beneath the Shining Water album. The first single "Sea of Roses" was again playlisted by Terry Wogan on BBC Radio Two. 2009 saw the release of Dare's sixth studio album Arc of the Dawn.