ASLAN FRONTMAN CHRISTY Dignam has died aged 63.
His passing was announced this evening in a statement from his daughter Kiera Dignam.
Tributes have poured in from all corners, with president Michael D. Higgins commenting that it’s “hard to believe that he has left us”.
We take a look back at some of his and Aslan’s standout performances below.
Back in 1989, a young Christy performed on the TV show Nighthawks.
The RTÉ programme was set in a fictional bar and featured presenter Shay Healy as the proprietor.
On a December 1988 episode, Healy remarked that patrons had “no idea of the goodies we are bringing you” as he introduced Dignam, who performed This Is.
In 2011, Aslan went from a five piece to a 55 piece when they performed for the first time with an orchestra.
With the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Aslan delivered a performance of Nothing Rhymed.
Christy’s daughter Kiera is also a singer and they memorably performed together over the years.
In this 2013 clip, they take on This Time on the now defunct Saturday Night with Miriam.
In a 2017 episode of The Tommy Tiernan Show, Christy said: “There’s times you can’t listen to Rock and Roll.
“Sometimes it’s too noisy but classical singing you can listen to anytime. No matter what humour you’re in, it just stirs you.”
He went on to “give it a lash” at the prompting of host Tommy Tiernan,
In the same year, Christy appeared on The Late Late Show alongside Finbar Furey, where they both delivered a performance of Green Fields of France.
In early 2018, Christy and Kiera were once again on The Late Late to deliver a rendition of the David Bowie classic Under Pressure.
In September 2019, Christy again joined Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late and in the first of the clips from that episode, he performed The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, a song about a young Australian who was maimed in the First World War.
On the same episode of The Late Late, Christy took on Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O’Sullivan.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and The Late Late Show paid tribute to the people of Ukraine in a special episode the following month.
Aslan were guests on the show and performed “Crazy World”, which host Ryan Tubridy said “fitted nicely in a strange and sad way”.
“Crazy World, and getting crazier,” said Dignam as he introduced the song.
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