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County: Down

Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock

Decades Active: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s

From Newtownards, Co. Down, former member of New Model Army and The Almighty embarked on a solo career in 2002.

About Ricky Warwick

Ricky Warwick, born in Newtownards, County Down, is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who was a founding member of Scottish punk/hard rock band The Almighty. Ricky has embraced no-frills, emotionally direct, pure music exemplified by such American influences as Johnny Cash, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen, Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and many others. Ricky attended his first concert at age 14, seeing Stiff Little Fingers. According to Ricky, "The experience changed my life...suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to do and nothing was ever gonna be the same again." That very week he purchased his first guitar. "I learned how to play guitar from my dad's Johnny Cash records and an Eagles songbook", Warwick says, although bands like Motorhead, MC5, Ramones, The Clash and Sex Pistols were just as influential. The following year, his family relocated to Strathaven, Scotland. Ricky played in numerous bands throughout his teen years, but began his professional musical career as the rhythm guitarist in New Model Army. After their disintegration, the young guitarist went on to found The Almighty in Glasgow. Gradually, the foursome moved away from their punk origins and acquired a hard rock sound and an image to match. Signing with Polydor Records, they entered the studio with Duran Duran's Andy Taylor as producer. The somewhat unlikely collaboration proved successful and 'Blood, Fire and Love' resulted in a solid collection of perfectly crafted metal anthems sharpened with just the right touch of punk attitude. The Almighty enjoyed ten Top 40 singles and four Top 20 albums in the UK. Ironically, Ricky appeared on Stiff Little Fingers Live and also wrote with the seminal English punk band The Ruts.

In 2002, Ricky embarked on a solo career and recorded his first release, 'Tattoos & Alibis'. Recorded in Dublin, Ricky collaborated with Peter O'Toole of Hothouse Flowers and Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy. This album brought about a much different feel than his past efforts with The Almighty, with Ricky drawing from his influences such as Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, Ramones and The Clash. Released in September of 2003 through Sanctuary Records, Tattoos & Alibis was produced by Def Leppard's Joe Elliott. Following the release of his solo debut, Warwick toured extensively as an opener for Def Leppard. While one man armed with an acoustic guitar in such a position might seem like a shaky proposition on the surface, Warwick received nothing but enthusiastic responses from the crowd each night.

A few years later, Ricky reunited with the Elliott/McHugh production team and released his sophomore effort - 'Love Many Trust Few' in 2005. On Love Many Trust Few, he co-wrote songs with Irish singer/songwriter Kieran Goss, famed Nashville writers - Sharon Vaughn (Willie Nelson, Reba McIntire, Oakridge Boys) and Rob Crosby (Martina McBride) as well as Del James (Guns N Roses). Guest appearances include Joe Elliott and Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard. Ricky says of Love Many Trust Few, "The album kinda has a thread running through it. A lot of the songs are about running away from places, people, feelings, myself, or a past something I feel I have been doing for a long time. I've also done a lot of driving across America in the last few years, so I suppose a lot of ideas have come from there. There is also stuff about Belfast and Ireland and just about how I've seen it change over the years. I used to be very interested in politics but with the world being the way it is, unfortunately I don't see a leader who inspires any belief in me. I found myself writing songs that were radically different from what I had done in the past, but it came naturally. These songs gave me new areas to explore. Lyrically, they go into other directions. Playing over 250 shows in the past few years, mostly solo and acoustic, I feel that I have improved immeasurably as a vocalist and guitarist, and that has given me the confidence to push my song writing boundaries even further."

In the mid-2000s Ricky was part of a new Los Angeles based project called Circus Diablo, featuring Billy Morrisson (Camp Freddy, Indie 103.1) on vocals, Billy Duffy (The Cult) on lead guitar, Brett Scallions (Fuel) on bass and Ricky rounding out the mix on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. The band released an album, 'Circus Diablo', in 2007.

In 2006 The Almighty reunited for a few sold out shows in the UK in support of cancer research. The experience was one that left the band with a thirst to do some additional one-off performances and they went to to headline the Bulldog Bash and then undertook a 5 show tour of the UK in December 2006.

In April 2009, Warwick released his third solo album, 'Belfast Confetti', continuing in the largely acoustic guitar based approach of his previous two solo albums.

In September 2009, Warwick joined the tribute version of Thin Lizzy as lead vocalist and guitarist. Warwick took part in Thin Lizzy's 2011 European tour commemorating 25 years since the death of Phil Lynott. In December 2012, he co-founded the Thin Lizzy spin-off band, Black Star Riders in order to release new material largely composed by Warwick with guitarist Damon Johnson. Black Star Riders' first album 'All Hell Breaks Loose' was released in May 2013.

In 2014, Warwick recorded a second album with the Black Star Riders. Titled 'The Killer Instinct', the album was released on 20 February 2015. Alongside his touring commitments with Black Star Riders in 2015, Warwick toured the UK with his band-mate Damon Johnson, performing acoustic sets of Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders songs, plus various covers and selections of Almighty and solo material. He also recorded an album of covers titled Stairwell Troubadour, again through PledgeMusic.

During 2016 and early 2017, Warwick and Thin Lizzy performed a small number of shows to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the band's breakthrough hit album, Jailbreak and the 30th anniversary of Phil Lynott's death. Black Star Riders' third album, Heavy Fire, was released on 3 February 2017 and reached No. 6 in the UK album charts.

In February 2014, Warwick launched a campaign through PledgeMusic to launch two albums later in the year, one comprising acoustic songs with the other being a hard rock record. The two albums, 'Hearts on Trees' and 'When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang The Blues)', were released at the end of 2014 to those who contributed to the PledgeMusic campaign, and on general release as a double album in February 2016 on the Nuclear Blast label. Guest musicians on these recordings include Damon Johnson, Joe Elliott, Andy Cairns (of Therapy?), Billy Morrison, Nathan Connolly, Ginger Wildheart, Richard Fortus and Jake Burns. Warwick assembled a band named The Fighting Hearts to tour behind the album, featuring Gary Sullivan on drums, Black Star Riders bassist Robbie Crane, and ex-Mission guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite. Ricky Warwick and The Fighting Hearts supported Stiff Little Fingers on a full UK tour throughout late February and March 2016. The Fighting Hearts undertook a second UK tour in November 2016. After a break of a few years, Warwick reactivated The Fighting Hearts in 2022 for a month-long tour of the UK and Ireland.

Warwick released another album 'When life was hard and fast' in 2021.

Video


Ricky Warwick - Jesus Loves you. But I don't. (Acoustic July 2024)

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