Biography
Sir George Ivan Morrison OBE, professionally known as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a recording career spanning six decades. He has earned two Grammy Awards.
In the late 1950s, as a teenager, he played guitar, harmonica, keyboards, and saxophone for several Irish show-bands, performing popular hits of the era. Nicknamed "Van the Man" by his fans, Morrison gained fame in the mid-1960s as the lead vocalist of the Northern Irish R&B and rock band Them, recording the garage band staple "Gloria" with them.
Morrison's solo career began in 1967 under the pop-oriented direction of Bert Berns with the hit single "Brown Eyed Girl." Following Berns's death, Warner Bros. Records acquired Morrison's contract and gave him three sessions to record Astral Weeks (1968). Although it initially sold poorly, the album has since become a classic. Moondance (1970) solidified Morrison's status as a major artist, and he continued to enhance his reputation through acclaimed albums and live shows throughout the 1970s.
Much of Morrison's music follows the traditions of soul and R&B, while another significant portion features long, spiritually influenced compositions reflecting Celtic heritage, jazz, and stream-of-consciousness storytelling, exemplified by Astral Weeks. These two elements together are often called "Celtic soul." His live performances are noted for being "transcendental" and "inspired," with his music described as achieving "a kind of violent transcendence."
Morrison's albums have enjoyed strong success in Ireland and the UK, with over 40 reaching the UK top 40. With the release of Latest Record Project, Volume 1, he achieved top ten UK albums in four consecutive decades. Eighteen of his albums have reached the US top 40, twelve of them between 1997 and 2017. His accolades include two Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, the 2017 Americana Music Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, and induction into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2016, he was knighted for his contributions to the music industry and tourism in Northern Ireland.
