Larry Cunningham
| Larry Cunningham | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Born |
13 February 1938 Clooneen, Mullinalaghta, County Longford, Ireland |
| Died | 28 September 2012 (aged 74) Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Country and Irish |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1961 – 2012 |
| Associated acts | The Mighty Avons |
| Website | http://larrycunningham.ie |
Larry Cunningham (13 February 1938 - 28 September 2012) was an Irish country music singer, who was one of the leading figures of the showband scene in the 1960s and 1970s. Regarded as a "trailblazer" and "legend" in the music industry, he accomplished a series of "firsts" during his career. In 1964, Cunningham broke into the British charts with "Tribute to Jim Reeves", the first time an Irish artist had done such a thing.
Cunningham grew up in the townland of Clooneen in Mullinalaghta parish, near Granard, County Longford, in a farming family of seven children. After leaving school at 16 he went to England and worked as a carpenter, playing Irish traditional music and gaelic football during his spare time. In 1958 he returned to Ireland. Still working as a carpenter, he soon joined the part-time Gowna-based Grafton Showband, but left it in 1961 to become fully professional as the lead singer of the Mighty Avons, based in Cavan. That band initially specialised in covers of Jim Reeves songs and similar country material.
The band's first taste of fame came when they were supporting Jim Reeves during the Irish leg of his European tour in 1963; when Reeves walked off the stage during a concert in Lifford in protest at the poor condition of the supplied piano, the Avons (as they later became popularly called) took over and entertained the crowd, to much subsequent publicity and acclaim.
In December 1964, Cunningham and the Mighty Avons had a Top-10 hit with the song "Tribute to Jim Reeves", which also entered the British charts (the first time for an Irish artiste), and played on Top of the Pops (also an Irish first), which further boosted their career. Their major hit was "Lovely Leitrim" in September 1965, which stayed at number one in the charts for four weeks. As well as regularly touring Ireland to large crowds, the Avons made many appearances on television, and often played in Britain, the USA, and other places.
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