Hothouse Flowers

• Genre: Celtic Rock

About

Hothouse Flowers' passionate fusion of Celtic-tinged Roots rock and Gospel music sets the Irish group apart from the vast majority of their contemporaries -- with the possible exception of Van Morrison, with whom they share much in common. Bono signed Hothouse Flowers to U2's Mother label in the mid-'80s after seeing the band perform on a late night television show. They recorded a single that did fairly well, but it was the celebrity push that directly led to the Flowers' subsequent deal with PolyGram. With a strong out-of-the-gate start, Hothouse Flowers' debut album People went to No.1 in Ireland and peaked at No. 2 in Britain. Subsequent releases produced similar results in most countries bar America, where, despite their considerable talent and cult following, Hothouse Flowers failed to break through. The band was quiet during most of the late 1990s and has recently started touring again. In 2004, the band made a spectacular return to form when they released their seventh album, Into Your Heart.

- Linda Ryan