THE STUNNING
“The Stunning were the biggest band in the country; tracks such as Brewing up a Storm, Heads are Gonna Roll and Half Past Two are still alternative anthems.” — Irish Times
“The Stunning pretty much did it all first time around, in this country at least. Paradise In The Picturehouse, their debut, was the first Irish debut album to go to number one and stayed there for five weeks.” — Hot Press
Short biog – 286 words
The Stunning formed in 1987 in Galway, Ireland and had their first top twenty single just a year later followed by two more top ten hits before their debut album ‘Paradise in the Picturehouse’ hit the number one spot in 1990 staying there for 5 weeks. The band was now a household name and became the soundtrack to the lives of a whole generation of people brought up in Ireland during the 80’s and 90’s. Over the next year or so, there were four more hit singles, followed by another number one album. They released a live album in ’93 before splitting up a year later. After an absence of almost ten years, the band reformed for an 18-date tour, which turned out to be one of the highest grossing tours in Ireland of 2003. In 2012 around 30,000 people turned out to see them play a free concert in their old hometown of Galway city, a testament to the timeless quality of their music. And more was to come: in May 2017 they released a brand new single ‘Brighten Up My Life’, which has received over 1700 plays on Irish radio to date. Another new single ‘Always You’ was released in November of the same year, the day before their first sell-out London show in 23 years. On 6th March 2018 the band released ‘Twice Around the World’, a re-recorded, re-vamped version of their number one album ‘Once Around the World’. It topped the charts once again and was the biggest-selling album in Ireland that week. The band then embarked on a sold-out tour of Ireland and headlined festivals over the summer of 2018. The Stunning are most definitely back, sounding as fresh as ever.-
Despite the passing of time, The Stunning’s music popularity has never waned. Songs such as “Half Past Two”, “Romeo’s on Fire”, and “Everything that Rises” are still as popular as ever. “Brewing Up A Storm” has become an anthem of sorts and is to be heard everywhere from sports stadiums to clubs around the country where it is still a guaranteed floor-filler.
They toured relentlessly around Ireland building up a following that would make them one of the most successful acts in Ireland in the early nineties. Their debut album “Paradise in the Picturehouse” spent a record-breaking 5 weeks at number one. Their second album “Once around the World” went straight in at number one and went on to be another multi-platinum seller. The Stunning have sold in excess of 100,000 albums in Ireland alone and the band scooped every music prize and award going.