{{Short description|Irish singer-songwriter (born 1949)}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Pierce Turner | image = Pierce Turner.jpg | caption = | spouse = Clare Turner | birth_date = | background = solo_singer | instrument = Piano, guitar, saxophone, tin-whistle, vocals | genre = Folk, rock | occupation = Singer, musician, songwriter | years_active = 1970s–present | label = Beggars Banquet<br />Sony BMG<br />LoveCat Music | associated_acts = Larry Kirwan<br />Philip Glass | website = {{URL|pierceturner.com}} }}

'''Pierce Turner''' is an Irish singer-songwriter. After forming a duo with Larry Kirwan he went solo in the mid-1980s and has since released several albums

==Biography== Turner grew up in the port town of Wexford, where his mother ran a retail outlet that sold recorded music, and led her own band. A classically trained musician, by the age of seven he was a member of a traditional Irish tin-whistle group, and at eight, he was playing in a brass and reed orchestra. He also sang in his local church choir, and the influence of hymn and plain-chant singing has been evident throughout his later career.

His first professional job was as a musician with the pop showband The Arrows. He later moved to New York City and formed The Major Thinkers with fellow Wexfordian Larry Kirwan (now the frontman of Black 47), and recorded several albums, also performing as Turner and Kirwan.<ref name="Seida"/><ref name="Palmer">Palmer, Robert (1978) [https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/06/archives/turner-and-kirwan-sing-original-tunes-at-a-club-in-village.html ''Turner and Kirwan Sing Original Tunes At a Club in Village''], ''New York Times'', 6 May 1978. Retrieved 22 January 2011.</ref> Turner and Kirwan released two albums – ''Bootleg'' and ''Absolutely and Completely'' – the latter issued on the Cosmos label as well as a single "Neck and Neck"/"When Starlings Fly" recorded at Electric Lady Studios/New York and issued on the Audio-Fidelity subsidiary label Thimble in 1973.

His first solo album, ''It's Only a Long Way Across'' (1987), was produced by American avant-garde composer Philip Glass.<ref name="Curtis">De Curtis, Anthony (1988) [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f7YmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uqUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3493,1998414&dq=pierce-turner&hl=en ''It's Only a Long Way Across'' Review], ''Tuscaloosa News'', page 9c; 10 January 1988. Retrieved 22 January 2011.</ref> It was nominated for 'Best Debut Issued by an Independent Record Company' at the New York Music Awards.<ref name="Seida">Seida, Linda [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pierce-turner-p14565/biography Pierce Turner Biography], Allmusic. Retrieved 22 January 2011.</ref> He went on to make two more albums for Beggars Banquet: ''Sky & the Ground'' (1989) and ''Now Is Heaven'' (1991). This album was produced by John Simon. In 1997, the Baltik imprint issued the album ''Angelic Language''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/angelic-language-mw0000919500|title=Angelic Language - Pierce Turner &#124; Album &#124; AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>

Turner embarked on what he called his Parlour Tour, performing in over seventy private houses in Ireland, accompanied by London-based Wicklow film maker Colin Murnane who was making the documentary ''The Song for the Year'' (2007).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wexford/news/pierce-returning-to-the-public-stage/27687861.html|title=Pierce returning to the public stage|date=1 September 2004|website=Irish Independent}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music-dvds-1.929995|title=Music DVDs|website=The Irish Times}}</ref>

Other songs by Turner were featured in the film ''Snakes and Ladders'' and the HBO TV show ''The Wire'' (his version of "Dirty Old Town"). Christy Moore recorded Turner's songs "Wicklow Hills" and "Musha God Help Her". Moore's 2004 box set includes the track ''I Love the Way Pierce Turner Sings''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.greystonesguide.ie/tracks-of-my-years-pierce-turner/|title=The Greystones Guide &#124; Tracks Of My Years: Pierce Turner|date=20 February 2018|website=The Greystones Guide}}</ref>

His album ''The Boy to Be With'' was released in 2006 and includes Turner's tribute to late Irish bluesman Rory Gallagher.<ref name="Moten">Moten, Katie (2005) [http://www.rte.ie/ten/2005/0505/turnerp.html Pierce Turner – The Boy to Be With], RTÉ, 5 May 2005. Retrieved 22 January 2011.</ref>

Turner commented on his lack of commercial success in 1993: <blockquote>I find that the American people really like what I do when I'm put in front of an audience of normal people, but when the recording industry gets my records, they tend to think the public won't understand or won't care about it. Maybe it's not happy enough or something. There's no use complaining about it. I'm choosing to go around that and go directly to the people.<ref name="Rule">Rule, Sheila (1993) [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00613FD3E550C748CDDAE0894DB494D81 The Pop Life: Listening In on a Big Party], ''New York Times'', 7 July 1993. Retrieved 22 January, 2011.</ref></blockquote>

In late 2011, work commenced on a new collection, ''Songs foR a veRRy small OrchestRa'', recorded in Ireland and released in 2012. Turner described the sound of the record as "Baroque Pop". The song "Yogi with a Broken Heart" contains a synthesizer accompaniment from Philip Glass, with whom Turner had performed the song at Carnegie Hall in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/arts/music/01benefit.html|title=Boisterous Bliss in Celebration of an Iron Tiger Year|first=Jon|last=Pareles|date=28 February 2010|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

In 2019, Turner began writing a column for the ''Wexford People'' and in 2024 he published a book of short stories, ''Living by the River'', inspired by his experiences living by the River Slaney in Wexford town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hotpress.com/music/musician-pierce-turner-publishes-his-debut-book-living-by-the-river-23064988|title=Legendary Irish musician Pierce Turner publishes his debut book Living by the River|first=Emily|last=Boyle|website=Hotpress|date=9 January 2025}}</ref>

==Discography== *''It's Only a Long Way Across'' (1987), Beggars Banquet *''Sky & the Ground'' (1989), Beggars Banquet *''Now Is Heaven'' (1991), Beggars Banquet *''Mañana in Manhattan ... Live'' (1994), Virtual * Snakes and Ladders 1995 soundtrack BMG *''Angelic Language'' (1997), Baltik *''3 Minute World'' (2001) *''Mr. Smith'' (2004), LoveCat *''The Boy to Be With'' (2004), 5030 *''Catch a Wave'' mini-album (2008), Pierce Turner *''Beyond The Blue'' (2010), LoveCat *''SoNgs for a VeRRy SmaLL ORchesTRa'' (2012) *''Love Can't Always Be Articulate'' (2016) *''Vinegar Hill'' (2019) *''Terrible Good'' (2022)

;Compilations: *''Pierce Turner'' (1998), Beggars Banquet

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.pierceturner.com/}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Pierce}} Category:Living people Category:Folk rock musicians Category:Irish emigrants to the United States Category:Irish male singer-songwriters Category:Irish singer-songwriters Category:Musicians from County Wexford Category:People from Wexford, County Wexford Category:Year of birth missing (living people)