Northern Ireland's Thin Lizzy rock legend Eric Bell to receive lifetime achievement award at NI Music Prize on Wednesday night
Eric Bell, Northern Ireland’s own rock legend famous for Thin Lizzy and Them, is to win a lifetime achievement award this week.
He’s to be honoured with the Oh Yeah Legend Award at the Northern Ireland Music Prize on Wednesday, during a star-studded ceremony in Belfast’s Ulster Hall.
The man responsible for the inimitable intro to Thin Lizzy’s first UK hit ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ as well as the guitar-hero solos that were part of their signature early sound, Eric was also the last guitarist in Them before Van Morrison’s acrimonious split with the 1960s hitmakers.
He’s still a touring musician, regularly hitting the live circuit with his blues-rock band the Eric Bell Trio, and this year released an archival box set collecting five albums he recorded between 1996 and 2017.
Speaking to the Performing Rights Society’s M Magazine, he said: “People ask me, when are you going to retire – but why would I do that?
"It’s part of me. You have to do it, or you lose it.”
His award means he’s following in the footsteps of previous recipients Snow Patrol, Paul Brady and Ash, with Eric joking: “So it’s about time.
“But, seriously, it’s a great honour and it’s a really nice thing to have.”
The Eric Bell Trio is due to perform a celebratory set with special guests at the Northern Ireland Music Prize. Over the course of the ceremony, other notable names taking the stage include Cara Dillon, Reevah and Dana Masters.
Organisers bill it as “the biggest night of the year under one roof for NI music”.