Ronnie Drew: The voice we adored

Sadly, Irish music lost another icon today: Ronnie Drew, founder of The Dubliners and a major figure in the Irish folk revival, passed away at 73, having battled throat cancer for the past two years. He was as striking in appearance, with that big bushy beard and those piercing eyes, as he was in voice -- all guts and gravel and unapologetically Dublin. As Ramblinghouse notes, "He lent an endearing quality to the working class Dublin accent, so often despised as 'Jakeen' by the rest of the country."
Earlier this year, Ronnie was paid tribute with "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew," a song and accompanying video that included the talents of Bono, Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Shane McGowan, Sinead O’Connor, Damien Dempsey, Glen Hansard, Mary Coughlan, Bob Geldof, Gavin Friday, Paddy Casey, Moya Brennan, Ronan Keating, Mundy, Eleanor Shanley and Andrea Corr, as well as members of The Dubliners, The Chieftains, Kila and U2. The song was written Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Bono, the Edge and Simon Carmody.

Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore
Like coals from a coal bucket scraping the floor
Sing out his praises in music and malt
And if you're not Irish, that isn't your fault

You can watch the video here -- which will likely be impossible to do without choking up.

--Sean Smith