Seán Keane, a masterful fiddle player and key member of the Irish folk band The Chieftains, died unexpectedly on May seven at his residence in Rathcoole, County Dublin. He was seventy-six. The news came just weeks after The Chieftains reunited to welcome US president Joe Biden as he visited his ancestral places of origin. Born in one thousand nine hundred forty-sixth, Keane’s musical journey took him the Dublin suburbs and into a remarkable career that led to him winning six Grammy Awards (with The Chieftans) and playing traditional Irish music to audiences worldwide.

Keane’s virtuosity on the fiddle, combined with his skill to captivate audiences with heartfelt performances, earned him widespread recognition and admiration folk music fans and musicians alike. Keane grew up in a musical family. Both parents were outstanding fiddle players and he took to the instrument the age of five. A precocious talent, he attended the Dublin School of Music twelve to sixteen studying classical violin, which he later credited with strengthening his technique and broadening the scope of his musical ambition. He left school to become an apprentice boilermaker, later working as a post office technician. All that changed when in one thousand nine hundred sixty-fourth was asked to connect the traditional Irish music grouping Ceoltóirí Chualann.

In one thousand nine hundred sixty-eighth he was invited into The Chieftains by the band’s funder Paddy Moloney, making his debut in an acclaimed week-long season of concerts in the one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight Edinburgh Festival. By the early one thousand nine hundred seventy, The Chieftains were already something of a folk music supergroup. They played at the Irish Arts Middle to an audience that included John Lennon and Yoko Ono. A decade later, at the request of Mick Jagger, the band performed with the Rolling Stones in an open-air concert at Slane Castle before an audience of 83.000.

The band also featured in Roger Waters‘ The Wall concert in Berlin in one thousand nine hundred-ninetieth and were the first grouping to carry out a concert in the Capitol Building in WA D.C. Though closely associated with the Chieftains for decades, Keane’s solo albums, Gusty’s Frolics (one thousand nine hundred seventy-five), Seán Keane (one thousand nine hundred eighty-one) and Jig It in Style (one thousand nine hundred ninety), are highly regarded among aficionados and players, as are his many recordings with uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn. He also contributed to recording by Kate Bush, Van Morrison and Label Knopfler. Keane is survived by his three children, his children, and his brother, James. He's predeceased by his wife, Marie and he leaves a lasting imprint on the world of traditional Irish music.