Celtic Woman is an all-female musical ensemble conceived and assembled by Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show Riverdance. His concept was to tap into the American marketplace's taste for Celtic music and culture by creating a group that blended the Irish elements of music and dance which Michael Flatley had successfully exploited with the structure of all-girl pop groups such as Spice Girls and Pussycat Dolls. In 2004, he recruited an aggregate of five Irish female artists who had not previously performed together: vocalists Chloë Agnew, Órla Fallon, Lisa Kelly and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, and fiddler Máiréad Ne*****itt, who became the first representatives of Celtic Woman. Downes proposed a repertoire that would range from traditional Celtic tunes to modern songs.
Over the years, some of the group's members have changed; in 2009, the group consisted of Chloë Agnew, Lynn Hilary, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and fiddler Máiréad Ne*****itt'; Alex Sharpe left the group in May 2010. Five albums have been released under the name "Celtic Woman": Celtic Woman, Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration, Celtic Woman: A New Journey, Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey, and Celtic Woman: Songs from the Heart. The group has undertaken a number of world tours. Cumulatively, albums by Celtic Woman have sold over 5 million records worldwide
The foundation for Celtic music's popularity outside Ireland and Europe was built by tapping into the success of artists such as Enya and Clannad, along with stage shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Celtic Woman has been described as being "Riverdance for the voice."
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