Ricky Warwick

Born in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, Ricky Warwick grew up surrounded by rock, punk and songwriting before moving to Scotland as a teenager — a trajectory that has left a lasting imprint on his writing. He began to attract attention in the late 1980s while touring with New Model Army, then founded The Almighty in 1988, a band at the crossroads of hard rock, heavy metal and a more direct punk energy, highly active on British and European stages throughout the 1990s. After that initial period, Warwick developed a more stripped-down solo side that foregrounds folk, country and Americana influences, notably on Tattoos & Alibis (2003), Love Many Trust Few (2005) and Belfast Confetti (2009). From 2009 he joined Thin Lizzy as singer and guitarist, and in 2012 took part in creating Black Star Riders, a lineup conceived to carry a new repertoire in a classic hard rock vein. At the same time Warwick has continued to alternate between electric albums and more acoustic formats — Hearts on Trees (2014), When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang the Blues) (2014), Stairwell Troubadour (2015) and When Life Was Hard and Fast (2021) — often performed on stage with The Fighting Hearts.