In anticipation of their 60th anniversary next year, The Chieftains will release Chronicles: 60 years of The Chieftains on November 12, 2021 via Claddagh Records. The project, which had been in production for twelve months, was postponed indefinitely following the untimely death of Paddy Moloney, the group's founder and leader, in October. However, after consultation with Paddy's family and the remaining members of the Chieftains, the project will continue exactly as Paddy wished, with the original artwork, track list, liner notes and footage in unaltered form. The Moloney family said in a statement, "Over the past few months, Paddy has been instrumental in putting together the Chronicles project - whether it was choosing versions of a recording, working on the track list or signing off the artwork - he has really enjoyed being involved and it meant so much to him to see the project come together on Claddagh Records, the Chieftains' very first record label, which Paddy ran for several years and produced much of the catalog. We're so glad he got to see the final version. The album is a fitting tribute to Paddy and The Chieftains." The release of Chronicles marks the first time ever that a complete career retrospective of The Chieftains has been released, and features tracks from across the revered band's discography - from their very first album release, Chieftains 1, to their most recent studio album, Voice of Ages - and includes groundbreaking collaborations with The Rolling Stones, Paulo Nutini, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Van Morrison and Sinéad O'Connor. It also includes previously unreleased recordings from Live at The Royal Albert Hall, Live at The Cambridge Folk Festival, as well as footage and recordings from the BBC and RTÉ archives Founded in 1962, the Chieftains, winners of six Grammy Awards and one Academy Award, have popularized traditional Irish music worldwide in their amazing 60-year career: founder and leader Paddy Moloney (uilleann pipes, tin whistle), Matt Molloy (flute) and Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals). Their ability to cross musical boundaries and fuse traditions with modern music has made them one of the best known and most revered musical groups to date. Their repertoire originated and still originates mostly from Ireland. Well-known dance songs like "Drowsy Maggie" and "The Chattering Magpie" have been given new life by the group, not to mention significant songs and airs that could be called their trademarks. Foremost among these is "Mná na hÉireann" ("The Women of Ireland"), whose haunting melody, composed by Seán Ó Riada, still resonates in the twenty-first century. Its instrumental version was released in 1973 on the album The Chieftains 4, and its version of the song, based on the Irish of the eighteenth-century poet Peadar Ó Doirnín, is an important part of the soundtrack to the 1975 film Barry Lyndon. Kate Bush, Mike Oldfield and Sinéad O'Connor are among the famous performers of the piece. Tracks like "Brian Ború's March" from The Chieftains 2 and "Carolan's Welcome" on The Chieftains 9 (Boil The Breakfast Early) reflect their inspiring musicianship. The ensemble draws from the vast fund of Irish tradition, mixing the old with the new while remaining true to their genre. The legacy of the Chieftains is immense. They changed the face of Irish music so much that in Irish traditional music circles there is talk of a time "before the Chieftains" and a time "after the Chieftains." It is nothing short of extraordinary that they have maintained such a high level of consistency as a band over six decades. Chronicles: 60 years of The Chieftains is a fine tribute to a remarkable group of musicians.