Chris de Burgh

Chris de Burgh, born Christopher John Davison on October 15, 1948 in Venado Tuerto, Argentina, is a British-Irish singer, musician, and singer-songwriter. He is the son of a British diplomat and Maeve Emily de Burgh, an Irishwoman whose surname he adopted for his career. His youth was marked by stays in Malta, Nigeria, and Zaire, before his family settled at Bargy Castle in County Wexford, Ireland.

After studying at Marlborough College in England, he earned a master’s degree in French, English, and history from Trinity College Dublin. He began singing for guests at the hotel his grandfather had established in the family castle.

Signed to A&M Records in 1974, he made his debut as the opening act for Supertramp on their *Crime of the Century* tour. His first album, *Far Beyond These Castle Walls* (1974), tinged with folk and fantasy, did not break through in the UK but found unexpected success in Brazil with the single *Flying*. This pattern repeated in the 1970s with albums like *Spanish Train and Other Stories* (1975) – containing the future classic A Spaceman Came Travelling – or *Crusader* (1979), produced with musicians who had worked with Kate Bush such as Ian Bairnson and David Paton from Pilot. They met with limited response in major Anglo-Saxon markets but built him a solid fan base in continental Europe and South America.

International success arrived in the early 1980s. The compilation *Best Moves* (1981) entered the UK charts, followed by the album *The Getaway* (1982) produced by Rupert Hine and carried by the single Don't Pay the Ferryman. *Man on the Line* (1984) confirmed this breakthrough. The commercial peak was reached in 1986 with the ballad The Lady in Red, a number one hit in the UK and several countries, which propelled the album *Into the Light* to the top of the charts. His next album, *Flying Colours*, entered directly at number one on the UK charts in 1988.

Although his presence on the American charts faded afterwards, he has maintained a loyal following worldwide. He was one of the first Western artists to perform in Lebanon after the civil war and has sold over 45 million albums. A multifaceted artist, he also composed a song in 1997 in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, titled *There’s a New Star Up in Heaven Tonight*.