Dave King (December 11, 1961 in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
) is an Irish singer, musician and songwriter. He is currently a member of the band
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk band[Life Is Good Out Now](_blank)
Floggingmolly. ...
, of which he is a founding member. He first gained notability as the original lead singer of hard rock band
Fastway in the 1980s.
Roots and early life
King grew up in a small two-room flat in
Beggars Bush, Dublin tenement that had once been part of
Beggars Bush Barracks
Beggars Bush Barracks was a British Army barracks located at Beggars Bush in Dublin, Ireland.
History
The barracks were designed as a training depot for the British Army and were completed in 1827, built on lands received from George Herbert, 11 ...
. When he was around the age of six or seven his parents bought him a guitar. King remembers being called inside by his mother to watch
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
perform "
Starman
''StarMan'' is a 1996 fantasy novel by Australian writer Sara Douglass. It follows the second book in the series, '' Enchanter'', with Axis marching north with his army to confront a formidable enemy.
Background
''StarMan'' was first published ...
" on television, which he cites as one of many influences along with
Luke Kelly
Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become i ...
,
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
,
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
, and
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
to name a few. King's father died when he was 10 years old. He left Dublin in his twenties, briefly residing in London and then on to Los Angeles where he first joined
Fastway and later formed
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk band[Life Is Good Out Now](_blank)
Floggingmolly. ...
with Ted Hutt, Jeff Peters, and Bridget Regan.
After emigrating to the United States, he was without a
"green card" for eight years. King was not able to visit his home or family in Ireland during this time for fear that
immigration laws
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
would prevent his return to the United States. This separation from his homeland and his mother is thought to be a contributing factor in many of Flogging Molly's early song lyrics, with many of the songs alluding to King's time in "exile".
Career
King's professional career began in the early 1980s when he was hired as the vocalist for
Fastway, an English hard rock band formed by ex-
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
guitarist "Fast"
Eddie Clarke and ex-
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
bassist
Pete Way
Peter Frederick Way (7 August 1950 – 14 August 2020) was an English hard rock and heavy metal bassist. He was bassist for the rock band UFO from 1968 to 1982; Way rejoined the band briefly in 1988–1989, and full-time from 1991 to 2008. He ...
in 1983. They recorded their first four records with King on vocals, as well as a live record.
When Fastway was ostensibly disbanded (Eddie carried on the name with all new members), King formed Katmandu with
Mandy Meyer
Armand "Mandy" Meyer (born August 29 1960) is a Swiss-Canadian guitarist best known for being a member of the hard rock band Gotthard, the progressive rock band Asia, and the heavy metal band Krokus. Meyer has also worked with Cobra, Stealin' H ...
(former member of the band
Krokus) and Mike Alonso, (former member of the Detroit-based band Speedball), who released one self-titled album. The band had a couple of minor hits but later disbanded.
King retained a record deal with Epic records, who wanted him to sing for
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...
, but he declined. He started working with forming the band
Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is an Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk band[Life Is Good Out Now](_blank)
Floggingmolly. ...
, with new material that had a distinct Irish sound, but still retaining the hard driving, loud and fast musical style. He asked to be let out of his Epic contract because "they wouldn't know what to do with the new music anyways..." Since then, Flogging Molly has reached position No. 4 on the Billboard charts top 200 and a No. 1 on the Billboard Indie Chart.
Personal life
King is married to fellow musician and bandmate Bridget Regan. After years together, the two married in a private ceremony in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Japan, while on tour in 2008.
King is an avid supporter of
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, and has the club's logo tattooed on his chest.
References
External links
Flogging Molly official websiteMSNBC article
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Dave
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American male singers
20th-century Irish male singers
20th-century guitarists
21st-century American male singers
21st-century Irish male singers
21st-century guitarists
American male guitarists
American rock guitarists
American rock singers
Bodhrán players
Fastway (band) members
Flogging Molly members
Irish emigrants to the United States
Irish male guitarists
Irish rock guitarists
Irish rock singers
Musicians from Dublin (city)