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Paddy Moloney at a concert in Madrid in 2019
Photo: Javier Bragado / Redferns / Getty Images
His death was an official statement even to the President of Ireland: Paddy Moloney, founder and leader of the Irish band The Chieftains, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83.
The Chieftains started making traditional Irish music in the 1960s and became world famous.
"Paddy," wrote President Michael D. Higgins, "with his exceptional skills as an instrumentalist, particularly on the uileann flutes and the bodhrán, has made a significant contribution to the renewed interest in Irish music and the appreciation of Irish music and culture internationally."
Collaboration with Ry Cooder and Bon Iver
Moloney was born in Dublin in 1938.
In 1962 he founded the Chieftains, for which he played the accordion as well as most of the compositions and arrangements for the uileann flutes, an Irish variant of the bagpipe, and the bodhrán drum.
The band has continuously released albums since its inception.
Her last work "Voice of Ages" was published in 2013. Although they became famous for their cultivation of Irish musical traditions, Moloney and his band repeatedly worked with musicians from other genres, such as Ry Cooder, Bon Iver and The Decemberists.
The Chieftains had their last appearance together with Moloney in Philadelphia in 2020 - on the Irish national holiday St. Patrick's Day.
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