Andrew Strong (born 14 November 1973) is an Irish singer and the son of Irish musician and singing coach Robert (Rob) Strong. He grew up in

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, (where his father lived while performing with showbands), and

Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...

, County Kildare. He starred as Deco Cuffe in the 1991

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

'' The Commitments'' based on the book by

Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ma ...

, despite being only 16 at the time. In 1992, he was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...

for his performance in ''The Commitments'', and with the cast, received a nomination for the

Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals was awarded between 1966 and 2011 (in its final year, it was awarded for recordings issued in 2010). The award had several minor name changes: *From 1966 to 1967, the award ...

. Since then, Strong has released a number of albums, including a platinum disc, and toured with artists including

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

and

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. Strong does not tour with the official tribute act to the Commitments, although he did perform with the original cast for the 20th anniversary concert in the

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

in Dublin in March 2011.

Tours and other projects

In 2003, Strong formed The Bone Yard Boys with Bent Larsen Petersen, a partnership that endures to the present day. The Bone Yard Boys' music is more contemporary with influences from Bowie, U2, Soundgarden, Sly, and "pretty much everything what inspires them". In 2005, Strong recorded "When I'm Coming Home" in Los Angeles for the film ''Brothers''. The following year, he released the album ''Greatest Hits'' on the Sony BMG label. This record consists of tracks from all of Strong's previous recordings and a couple of new tracks he co-wrote. During 2006 and 2007 he toured Europe and Australia to promote ''Greatest Hits'' while also writing and recording with The Bone Yard Boys. In 2009, Strong played his first US East Coast tour since 1998, while also playing festivals in Europe, and also recording with The Bone Yard Boys. In 2010 he performed concerts on a US West Coast tour and played festivals in Europe. The Commitments got back together in March 2011 for a reunion tour to mark the 20th anniversary of the movie, with four shows in Ireland ending in the O2 Arena in Dublin to critical acclaim. They played to 24,000 people over four shows and also donated 30,000

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

to the

Irish Cancer Society The Irish Cancer Society (formerly known as the Conquer Cancer Campaign) is the national charity in the Republic of Ireland dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem, and improving the lives of those who have cancer. History Fo ...

. In 2014 Strong performed concerts in Australia, Germany, France (on 5 July 2014 at Cabannes, for the 10th edition of the "Nuit du Blues") and Denmark.

Discography

Albums

Charted singles

References

External links

Official Andrew Strong website
*
Andrew Strong
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Andrew 1973 births Living people Irish male film actors Irish rock singers Irish baritones Musicians from County Dublin Musicians from County Kildare People from Naas 21st-century Irish male singers