Kevin McAlea
Kevin McAlea | |
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| Born | 10 April 1949 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Genres | Pop, rock |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1970–present |
| Formerly of |
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Kevin McAlea (born 10 April 1949) is an Irish keyboard player and songwriter, known for his work with Kate Bush, David Gilmour, and Barclay James Harvest and for writing English lyrics for the Nena song "99 Luftballons", as the international hit "99 Red Balloons".[1][2] He also plays saxophone, guitar and uilleann pipes. He has built several analogue synthesiser systems and had an early interest in electronic music.
McAlea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[3] He attended St. Malachy's College there.
Early in his career he played in Skid Row,[4] an Irish band which had included future members of Thin Lizzy.
He performed with Kate Bush, on her only tour, 1979's "The Tour of Life", and again during her 2014 Hammersmith Apollo residency, "Before the Dawn". He played with David Gilmour on parts of his 2015/2016 world tour which included concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden. He has also worked with Bees Make Honey, Clannad, Barbara Dixon, Dr Feelgood, Enya, Roy Harper, Kirsty MacColl, Seal, Poly Styrene, and Kim Wilde.
McAlea has a site with a library of traditional tunes and some recorded works, called Celtic Orbis.[5] He also has released music under the same name.[6]
Discography
McAlea's career includes contributions to:
- 1979: Barclay James Harvest - Eyes of the Universe
- 1979: Kate Bush - Live at Hammersmith Odeon
- 1981: Barclay James Harvest - Turn Of The Tide
- 1987: Barclay James Harvest - Face To Face
- 1980: Poly Styrene - Translucence
- 1993: Barclay James Harvest - Caught In The Light
- 1997: Barclay James Harvest - River Of Dreams
- 2004: Poly Styrene - Flower Aeroplane
- 2007: Celtic Orbis - The Dagda's Cauldron[7][6]
- 2014: Kate Bush - Before the Dawn
References
- ^ "99 Red Balloons – interview with the writer, Kevin McAlea". Eighty-eightynine. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ Price, Andy (18 November 2025). "The band didn't like the English lyrics, the record company didn't want to release it as a single, and the song had no chorus: The story of the 'foreign language song' that became an international hit". MusicRadar.
- ^ "Kevin McAlea biography". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ "McAlea, Kevin". Kate Bush Encyclopedia. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
- ^ "Celtic Orbis". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ^ a b Celtic Orbis - The Dagda's Cauldron, retrieved 14 July 2022
- ^ the Dagda's Cauldron, 1 January 2007, retrieved 14 July 2022
External links
- Kevin McAlea at IMDb
- Kevin McAlea discography at Discogs