Michael Flatley is the most famous Irish dancer of all time and is now a featured actor in his own movie. It is only fair I put together an article about things you might not know about Michael Flatley. In the past, I have shared some lovely videos, including Michael’s last performance, his greatest moments and even a look inside Michael Flatley’s million-dollar home.
The man is a legend, there is no doubt about that, and given his unfortunate recent diagnosis of a rare form of skin cancer, I wanted to put together a list of things you might not know about the man, the myth, the legend.
10 Things To Know About Michael Flatley 🕺
MWong3002, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
- Michael Flatley was born to Irish parents in Chicago on July 16, 1958(Now 64 years old), after his seven-minute “Riverdance” performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest interval. That’s right, the performance was not an act in the Eurovision itself but came on half time to many viewers’ surprise worldwide.
- The launch of Riverdance: This was back when Ireland won the most Eurovision song contests of all time. Ireland won in 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. As votes were being counted around Europe, in Dublin in the Point Theatre (now the O2), Riverdance exploded onto the stage. This was the spark that Michael Flatley and Jene Butler needed to launch Riverdance mainstream. A new entertainment genre emerged, and two decades and 25 million audience members later, Riverdance continues to amaze people worldwide. You can watch the sensational video below:
- But you might be wondering just what Mr Flatley was doing before Riverdance? He was a flautist(a flute player) and played the instrument in a band called “The Chieftains.” Michael Flatley had already commanded the attention of over 18,000 people during a tour with The Chieftains at the Hollywood Bowl. And I was lucky enough to find footage of this, including an interview about the experience with Michael Flatley. Never heard of the Chieftains? The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962. Since then, they have won six Grammy Awards and are highly recognized for reinventing traditional Irish music.
- Flatley is a trained pilot licensed to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
- He was awarded the title of “Lord of the Dance” by the county of Donegal in Ireland in recognition of his contributions to Irish culture.
- He has written an autobiography titled “Lord of the Dance: My Story.”
- Flatley holds a Guinness World Record for tapping his feet 35 times per second and has the Guinness world record for the highest-paid dancer the star of Lord of the Dance earned $1.6 million (£1 million) a week for his Irish-style dancing at the peak of the show’s success. Not a bad salary!
- Flatley has also expanded into film, directing and starring in the 2021 spy thriller Blackbird. Oh, he also wrote the film himself, so well done, Mr Flatley!
- The Lord of the Dance 25th anniversary is fast approaching, and a special is on in Dublin from the 22 – the 25 of February. More details on that are here.
- He is an accomplished artist and has exhibited his paintings in galleries worldwide.
I bet you didn’t know all of that about Michael Flatley.
In addition to “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance,” Flatley has created several other popular dance shows, including “Feet of Flames” and “Celtic Tiger.”
He has collaborated with numerous musicians and artists, including Van Morrison, Sinéad O’Connor, and Bono.
What’s next for Michael Flatley? Only time will tell, but we do hope that he makes a full recovery. He recently spoke to RTÉ News on Wednesday afternoon; he said: “Anyone who knows me knows I’m a fighter, and I’ll get through this. I’m absolutely confident, but it’s one day at a time.”
Is there anything else about Michael Flatley that I should have added? Comment below and be sure to share this article,