‘A Real Turning Point’: The Corrs Reminisce On Aus Success, Hits & More

We have always loved The Corrs in Australia, so much so that when the Irish group toured down under in 1997, their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, was inescapable. Sharon Corr (violin, vocals, keyboards) recalls hearing the title track in a Cairns swimwear store and the reaction from people around her: “oh my god, it’s Sharon Corr!”. Like ABBA before them, Australian audiences latched on to The Corrs before the rest of the world. What is it about us?

Chatting to me by a piano from her house in Madrid, Corr calls her home of the last five years a "great city with beautiful ambience, a lot of unique things to do, and living on terraces all-year round.” Sharon and her siblings can’t wait to get back to Australia.

Touching down to the other side of the world after two years of no travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic excites her, and so does seeing the water go down the plughole the opposite way and being part of our lively atmosphere. “I feel at home there. When we first hit Australia in the late '90s, they welcomed us with open arms, and we hit it big there first. It was a real marker in our career and a real turning point as well, we had been trying and working for so long, and then we found, 'wow, these people really love our stuff.’ I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing Forgiven, Not Forgotten. It was insane.”

Corr comments that we also have a lot in common, heritage-wise, which makes Australia a delightful country to visit. "For many Australians, their native homeland would have possibly been the UK, Ireland, or Scotland,” she explains. She’s right – just look at the roots of AC/DC and Cold Chisel. “We’re very similar people. The Australians are a bit like the Irish; you’re quite cheeky, outspoken, and fun. I do love that because it’s not something I experience much in Madrid.”

Sharon isn’t sure if The Corrs will be playing any new songs at Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, this November, but the last two Corrs records, White Light, released in 2015; and 2017’s Jupiter Calling, will certainly be featured. My favourite Jupiter Calling track is the first one: the Scarborough Fair-inspired Son of Solomon. The Simon & Garfunkel influence is evident – “you are absolutely spot on there,” Corr smiles; her first musical memory involves the iconic American folk duo.

“I remember one night I was upstairs; I must have been about four years old. My parents were having a party downstairs. They were playing Simon and Garfunkel, and I heard Mrs Robinson. I mean, come on! I don't know what it was,” she says. “So, I slipped downstairs. They were all partying, and they didn't even see me. I had an old tape recorder, which I was like, reverse playing and reverse. Reverse play again. Just, oh my god, that rhythm on the guitar is incredible.”

Son of Solomon is a much-loved song among The Corrs. “The four of us wrote that song; it came from a piano piece Caroline was playing that she had written. It was just Caroline and me in the studio that day," Corr begins. Then, the four siblings made magic as soon as Andrea and Jim started working on the song. “We had this great song. It’s very epic. It sort of feels like it crosses worlds. There’s something very Oriental about it and something extremely ancient and almost biblical about it, you know?” 

The Corrs are also doing a world first on that fateful November evening; they will launch 500 drones that night. “It’s going to be a pretty spectacular moment; I think it’s going to be super exciting,” Corr says. “We’re probably going to do a 90-minute set, and it'll have a really sweet dynamic. We’ll take you through many feelings, bring you up and then bring you onto a more spiritual level.”

Of course, longtime Corrs fans will be treated to all the hits. “When you do a gig like this, and you come back after 21 years, which seems ridiculous to say – you want to play the songs that the audience loves; that’s super important,” she confirms. 

So, Forgiven, Not Forgotten will be on the set, as will Breathless, Runaway, Radio, Dreams, and many more. “People fell in love with these songs. We’ll play the songs that really worked in Australia because that's what the audience wants to hear. When I hear about great artists playing completely unknown sets, I’m always like, ‘I don’t know any of these songs. Could you play the ones we bought and loved?’ We’re very proud to play old songs. They were well written. And, you know, we put a lot of craft into it. We really enjoy playing them.”

Speaking of Breathless, Corr remembers that the song played during Another Toothpick, a season 3 episode of The Sopranos. "I remember watching The Sopranos because I used to binge-watch it. I absolutely loved that series. And then I see Meadow Soprano coming downstairs singing with the headphones on, and I looked at my now ex-husband, and I went, ‘holy God, that’s Breathless,’” she exclaims. It’s a relief for Sharon Corr to hear unexpected songs on television – today’s music streaming services are abundantly cruel to artists because they're not getting paid enough money to survive.

“When I heard that Running Up That Hill was number 1 recently, I just jumped for joy. Kate Bush is one of my biggest personal influences,” Corr begins. An extraordinary artist, there’s no one creating art like Kate Bush these days. She concurs, “Kate Bush is theatrical. She’s an incredible singer; she has terrific vocal technique. She's a beautiful dancer. She's simply one of a kind. To see Running Up That Hill, which is probably one of the first singles I ever bought, hit the current market is amazing. My kids listen to Kate Bush now. Well, thank you, Stranger Things, for that.

"I'm delighted because [Stranger Things] exposes the younger generation to greatly crafted music. Kate didn't write music in her bedroom; she was different. I think it's really nourishing for younger kids, music-wise, to listen to what Kate has done. She’s a spectacular artist. I hope this wave of success inspires her to tour again because I saw her last gig at the Apollo in London, and I cried four times. It was just insanely good."

Another personal influence for Sharon Corr is none other than Crowded House. She has a unique partnership with their current keyboardist and record producer, Mitchell Froom. “I grew up loving Crowded House. They’re such authentic songwriters, and that’s the thing that I always gravitate towards because it feels like the truth. It is the truth,” she says. 

Corr is a Crowded House superfan. Songs like Into Temptation, Private Universe, Fall at Your Feet, Four Seasons in One Day, and Weather with You display a kind of songwriting she adores: when a man expresses his vulnerabilities and desires in an upbeat fashion.

“I remember being in Sydney long ago, and I would spend all day in my room between gigs listening to Crowded House,” she smiles. Woodface is a beautifully crafted album, a classic record that turns unusual corners and features strange influences. Corr had to know who produced it.

“I looked to see who the producer was, and it was Mitchell Froom. We were going to do MTV Unplugged and our manager at the time asked, 'who would you like to be the producer?' and I instantly said, Mitchell Froom. Our manager went, 'well, let me see what I can do.' Mitchell was super curious about the family band dynamic and me because he had that with Tim and Neil Finn as well, which can be rocky territory, especially for a producer.” 

Froom went over to Dublin and spent a long time with The Corrs rehearsing, rearranging, and reworking songs to create the MTV Unplugged concert. “And then, subsequently, I asked him to produce my second solo record. I did that in Los Angeles with him. He's very cool, understated, heartfelt, and goddamn brilliant. He really is superb.”

Infusing traditional Celtic music with modern-day pop and rock music is second nature to Sharon Corr. While people outside of Ireland may find the band’s musical combinations unusual, it’s only because we’re outside the Corr family background. “We grew up surrounded by traditional Irish music and tons of players. Ireland is such a musical country. Almost everybody plays something, even if it’s just the spoons,” she laughs.

“We’ve done it naturally. As I played the violin, Caroline took up the bodhrán (an Irish frame drum), Jim [took up] the guitar, and Andrea [started playing] the tin whistle. It just made perfect sense to put those instruments in our music. It also really helped identify us from other bands; it was a way of going, ‘of course, that’s The Corrs!’”

THE CORRS 
One Night Only

with Special Guests 
Wet Wet Wet, Ben Lee & Gaudion

Saturday, November 26, 2022 - Hope Estate, Hunter Valley NSW

Tickets here