Christy Dignam: One of Ireland’s most recognisable performers and writer of pop/rock classics

Born: May 23rd, 1960

Died: June 13th, 2023

Christy Dignam, the lead singer of the Irish rock group Aslan, was one of Ireland’s most recognisable performers, beloved by fans and admired by his contemporaries. His career of almost 45 years was characterised by an easy-going charm and often disarming honesty that rigorously deflected cynicism.

He was responsible for writing two songs in particular that have withstood the passage of time: This Is, released in 1988, and Crazy World, released in 1993, are Irish pop/rock classics that are also among the most played songs on Irish radio. He died at home surrounded by family at the age of 63. He had been in palliative care at home since December 2022, having been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder associated with certain cancers in 2013.

Christy Dignam: One of Ireland’s most recognisable performers and writer of pop/rock classics

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Christy Dignam was born at the National Maternity Hospital, on Holles Street in Dublin, on May 23rd, 1960, the son of Teresa and Christopher Dignam snr, a CIÉ upholsterer. He and his seven siblings grew up in Finglas. At the age of six he was sexually molested by a neighbour. The abuse continued for more than three years, leading to, he later intimated, his addiction to hard drugs. “From that moment on,” Dignam said, “my life was different. The first time I got rid of that as an adult was when I took heroin.”

His early years as an aspiring singer were formed by listening to his father singing Enrico Caruso and John McCormack; his teenage years were influenced by listening to The Beatles and, in particular, David Bowie, but the deciding factor came about when he was informed by a friend that the successful UK pop group Slade came from Wolverhampton. “Up until that moment,” said Dignam, “I thought doctors were born doctors and rock stars were born rock stars. I thought they were given this divine right.”

[ Christy Dignam: ‘Nearly all the people I started with are dead’ ]

In 1980 he formed his first rock band, Meelah XVIII, which also featured his Finglas friend Joe Jewell. Two years later Dignam and Jewell recruited aspiring musicians and songwriters Alan Downey and Billy McGuinness, and formed Aslan. Relentless rehearsals and passionate self-belief helped the band became one of Irish music’s hottest acts, with Dignam especially asserting himself as a frontman who looked as cool as any other denim- or leather-clad 1980s rock star you could think of.

The band quickly attained a reputation for no-nonsense live shows. By the summer of 1986 their growing popularity brought them to the attention of major record labels. During a visit to Britain for a series of concerts and a BBC Radio 1 session, for Janice Long’s show, the UK music paper Melody Maker remarked of Aslan, “lucky the record label that signs this band”.

By the end of 1986 Aslan had been named most promising new band at the Stag/Hot Press awards and signed to EMI. A sequence of hit singles – This Is and Loving Me Lately in 1986; Pretty Thing and Please Don’t Stop in 1987 – preceded the release, in 1988, of their debut album, Feel No Shame, which went to the top of the Irish album charts.

International fame, particularly following U2′s success, seemed sure to follow, particularly when EMI greenlit a second album and organised showcase gigs on the east coast of the United States. By the end of 1988, however, Dignam had been sacked: his debilitating lifestyle choices had effectively scuppered the band’s chances of establishing themselves in the US. The remaining members of Aslan recruited a replacement lead singer, but later disbanded completely, forming a new group, The Precious Stones. Dignam later released material as part of Dignam & Goff.

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Christy Dignam of Aslan in March 1988. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty

Each act limped along until 1993, when Dignam was persuaded, somewhat reluctantly, to reunite with his former bandmates for a community event in Finglas. The concert was attended by thousands, Aslan regrouped – causing Dignam to retreat from his vow of never again having “anything to do with those scumbags”, a comment he later deeply regretted – and signed a record deal with BMG.

[ Christy Dignam: The Man Who Stayed Alive – A life-affirming triumph ]

With the release of Crazy World, Dignam’s life began a phase that continued, albeit in stops and starts, until this year. Drugs continued to be placed centre forward in his life until he finally vanquished their grip, in 2008, following a period of cleansing in a monastery in Thailand, where he and other addicts were administered emetics. “It was hard-core,” he recalled. “I felt if it was too easy to stop I’d fall back into it again.”

By this time, and strengthened by his resolve, Aslan once again established themselves as a touring band (primarily in Ireland, which they travelled extensively, doggedly playing any and every venue they could). Dignam remained the principal face of the band, always making himself available for promotional interviews and always speaking in a signature forthright and never self-pitying manner about any phase or experience of his life.

In March 2013 Dignam was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare form of incurable blood cancer, for which he underwent bouts of chemotherapy. From that point onwards, gigs and tours with Aslan took on a more erratic nature, with shows postponed if his health required it.

Dignam’s commitment to singing and performing never wavered, however: he collaborated with artists as diverse as the folk singer-songwriter Finbar Furey and the rapper Coolio. In 2021, Dignam released his debut solo album, The Man Who Stayed Alive, the title of which pointed to his tenacious survival instincts. “The only time I feel alive is when I’m singing,” he told The Irish Times in 2019. “All the things you can’t be in everyday life, you can be when you sing.”

Christy Dignam is survived by his wife, Kathryn, his daughter, Kiera, and his grandchildren.