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Mary Black is a performer equally at home singing traditional Irish folk tunes and contemporary music including blues, rock, jazz, country and soul. She was born into a musical family the daughter of a fiddler and a singer. She started out professionally with her brother and sister in Dublin nightclubs and then performed with General Humbert, a folk group until 1982 when she released her eponymous solo debut. The album made it to the Top Five on the Irish album charts and won the Irish Independent Arts Award for Music. At the invitation of Alec Finn, Black joined the band De Dannan. A week later, she took part in the recording of Song of Ireland with them. She remained with De Dannan for three years. In 1984, Black helped produce and sang back-up on the Black's Family Favourites album. She was still performing with De Dannan when she launched her solo career with the Declan Sinnott-produced largely pop album Without the Fanfare. Many of the tracks went gold and for both 1987 and 1988 she was named Best Female Artist in the Irish Rock Music Awards Poll. Black's music crossed the Atlantic in 1990 when her 1989 album No Frontiers, debuted in the U.S. and climbed to the Top 20 of the New Adult Contemporary charts. It was also a top seller in Ireland. That year Black began a successful concert tour of Japan. Though her music is firmly based in Irish tradition, Black is interested in performing all kinds of music. Her first influences included Sandy Denny and the Fairport Convention. Other influences include Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide
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