John Joseph O'Neill (born 26 August 1957) is a musician who is the rhythm guitarist and principal

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

/ new wave band

the Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...

. O'Neill, along with his younger brother Vincent and friends Feargal Sharkey, Michael Bradley and Billy Doherty, founded the Undertones in 1975, but Vincent O'Neill was replaced the following year with his younger brother

Damian O'Neill Stephen Damian O'Neill (born 15 January 1961) is the lead guitarist in the pop music, pop-punk rock, punk musical ensemble, band, The Undertones. He joined the band following the departure of his older brother, Vincent, in 1976, and remained wit ...

, who became the band's lead guitarist. John O'Neill wrote the majority of the band's singles and a number of album tracks (occasionally collaborating with his brother Damian or Michael Bradley). Undertones songs written by John O'Neill include the singles " Teenage Kicks", " Jimmy Jimmy", " Here Comes the Summer" and " You've Got My Number", and such notable album tracks as "When Saturday Comes", "I Gotta Getta", "Girls That Don't Talk" and "You're Welcome". After releasing four albums and 13 singles, the Undertones disbanded in 1983; they reformed in November 1999. Since then, the band (who have a new lead singer, fellow Derry native Paul McLoone who also serves as a radio presenter for the Irish national and independent radio station

Today FM Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a licen ...

) have released two more albums and performed a number of gigs in both the UK, Ireland, Europe and North America. In 1985, the O'Neill brothers formed That Petrol Emotion, an acclaimed rock act that disbanded in 1994.''The Rough Guide to Rock'' p. 1121 In the 1990s, he formed a trip hop group named Rare under the stage name Seán Ó'Néill with vocalist Mary Gallagher. Despite some positive reviews in the music press, they only had one notable chart appearance and disbanded shortly after the release of their only album in 1998.

References

External links

* Alternative Ulsterbr>''interview with John O'Neill''

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, John 1957 births 20th-century guitarists from Northern Ireland 20th-century male musicians from Northern Ireland 20th-century songwriters from Northern Ireland Living people Male guitarists from Northern Ireland Male songwriters from Northern Ireland Musicians from Derry (city) New wave musicians from Northern Ireland People educated at St Columb's College Rock guitarists from Northern Ireland The Undertones members That Petrol Emotion members

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Further reading

External links