Red Hurley - Big Break

Big Break

In early 1971, his brother Liam left the Airchords to join The Nevada Showband. A few months later, when the then lead singer, Roly Daniels left "The Nevada Showband", Liam suggested his brother as a replacement. It was through his time as lead singer with The Nevada Showband that Red Hurley became a household name, enjoying a string of number 1 hits. He enjoyed success with "The Nevada Showband" until he left in 1974 to form his own "Red Hurley Band". He continued making hit records and toured extensively right up to the mid-1980s. Throughout this time, despite huge domestic success in Ireland, where he was a huge star, significant international success eluded him. The general feeling was that the marketing of an Irish pop star was difficult at a time when the bombing campaign of the Provisional IRA on the UK mainland was ongoing. Red's obvious Irish identity was considered an uphill battle in common with other Irish pop icons Joe Dolan and Dickie Rock, who also failed to find a significant UK audience at that time, despite being virtual superstars in Ireland. Red's record in the Irish Charts, however, places him among the biggest chart acts of all time in Ireland, with over 20 hits and five number ones. He is still having chart hits in the 21st century giving him one of the longest chart careers in Irish show-business history.