HomeTown was a six-piece

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

boy band, formed and managed by

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later be ...

. They were signed to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, a division of

Sony Music Entertainment UK Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. The vocal group is made up of singers from Ireland, with Walsh auditioning a thousand singers for the band. HomeTown consisted of Cian Morrin, Dayl Cronin, Dean Gibbons, Josh Gray, Ryan McLoughlin, and Brendan Murray. The band opened for

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom ...

McBusted McBusted were an English pop-punk supergroup composed of members from bands McFly (Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd) and Busted (James Bourne and Matt Willis). The only member of the original groups not participating ...

and The Vamps on UK and Ireland tours in 2015 and 2016.

Career

Formation

The band was originally composed of five members, Gareth Borrow ( Derry), Ryan McLoughlin ( Newbridge), Brendan Murray (

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

), Cian Morrin (

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. W ...

) and Dayl Cronin ( Clonmel). The five were picked out of a thousand applicants for a band project by Walsh. Borrow was later removed from the band and Walsh brought in two new members, Josh Gray (

Blessington Blessington, historically known as Ballycomeen (, from the Irish surname ''Ó Coimín''), is a town on the River Liffey in County Wicklow, Ireland, near the border with County Kildare. It is around 25 km south-west of Dublin, and is sit ...

) and Dean Gibbons (

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), turning HomeTown into a six-piece band.

2014–16: Debut album

Their first single, " Where I Belong", debuted at number one in Ireland, becoming the fastest-selling single from a debut act and the fastest-selling single from an Irish artist in 2014. The single was written by

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. The band's second single, "

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", was released on 27 March 2015 in Ireland. The song also reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart. The band began a signing tour around Ireland shortly after. They released their first single " Where I Belong" in the UK on 24 July 2015, with 4 September as the impact date (the day a track is meant to start receiving significant

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

). On 23 October 2015, HomeTown released their third single " The Night We Met", which was written by

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and Jamie Scott. On 20 November 2015, HomeTown released their self-titled debut album, which debuted at number 4 on the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

. In August 2016, the band released "Roses" as the fourth and final single from the album. In October 2016, the band made their European debut in Madrid, Spain, where they played to a sold-out Barclaycard Center at the Coca-Cola Music Experience festival, alongside other acts such as

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

and

Bea Miller Beatrice Annika Miller (born February 7, 1999) is an American singer and actress. She came in ninth place on season two of ''The X Factor'' (US) when she was 13 years old. She was later signed to Hollywood Records. Her debut EP '' Young Blood'' ...

. In December 2016, HomeTown announced that its members would be taking a break from music to pursue individual projects. Shortly after, Brendan Murray was announced as the Irish representative in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ...

. Dayl Cronin took part in the Irish version of ''Dancing With the Stars'' in 2017.

Members

* Brendan Murray (born 16 November 1996), Murray represented Ireland in Eurovision in 2017 in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

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, but failed to qualify for the grand final. He competed on the fifteenth series of

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

and was eliminated in the semifinals. * Dayl Cronin (born 8 December 1993). Cronin started his own dance school in Longs Yard, Tower Street, Cork * Dean Gibbons (born 17 February 1994) * Josh Gray (born 28 March 1997) * Ryan McLoughlin (born 27 January 1994) McLoughlin released single 'Nobody like You' on 25 August 2017. *Cian Morrin (born 2 October 1994)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Tour

Headlining

* Sense Club, Cookstown – 29 May 2015 * Open Air Theatre, Scarborough – 20 June 2015 * Bents Park, South Shields – 12 July 2015 – (2pm) * Westonbirt Arbertoreum, Tetbury – 12 July 2015 – (8pm) * Delapre Park, London – 17 July 2015 * Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh – 18 July 2015 * Feile Party in the Park (matinee), Belfast – 2 August 2015 * Greencastle Community Centre (evening), Donegal – 2 August 2015 * Culloville Community Centre, Newry – 7 August 2015 * Lytham Green, Lytham – 8 August 2015 * Vicar Street, Dublin – 21 August 2015 * Opera House, Cork – 12 September 2015 * UCH, Limerick – 13 September 2015 * Seapoint, Galway – 26 September 2015 * Great Northern, Bundoran – 23 October 2015 * Clanard Court, Kildare – 25 October 2015 * Headfort Arms, Kells – 26 October 2015 * Tullamore Court, County Offaly – 27 October 2015 * TLT Theatre, Louth – 28 October 2015 * Minella, Clonmel – 31 October 2015 * O'Connell Street, Dublin – 29 November 2015 * Vicar Street, Dublin – 4 December 2015 * Mount Errigal, Letterkenny – 27 December 2015 * Claremorris Town Hall, Claremorris – 28 December 2015 * Breffni Arms, Arvagh – 29 December 2015 * Clarnard Court, Kildare – 1 January 2016 * Radisson Athlone, Athlone – 2 January 2016 * INEC, Kerry – 3 January 2016 * Mcgettigans, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 17 March 2016 – (5pm) * Mcgettigans JLT, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 17 March 2016 – (9pm) * Jersey Opera House, Jersey Channel Islands – 21 May 2016 * Jacksons Hotel, Donegal – 30 December 2016– Cancelled

Supporting

– Never Been Better Tour (2015) * The Vamps – The Vamps UK Summer Tour (2015) *

– Most Excellent Adventure Tour (2015) * The Vamps – Wake Up UK Arena Tour (2016)

Other gigs

* Childline (2014) * Coca-Cola Music Experience (2016) * Beaulieu Convent School, Jersey Channel Islands (2016)

References

{{Authority control Irish boy bands Musical groups established in 2014 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 2014 establishments in Ireland