14 Facts About Darren Wharton

Darren Leigh Wharton was born on 25 December 1961 and is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter.

Darren Wharton has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy.

Darren Wharton was playing keyboards for a band in London clubs when he auditioned for Thin Lizzy.

Darren Wharton was only 18 when he contributed keyboards to their 1980 album Chinatown.

Darren Wharton continued with the band on the follow-up Thunder And Lightning in 1983, having a greater share in the writing credits, including the band's final single "The Sun Goes Down", but that year Lynott announced the break-up of Thin Lizzy.

Darren Wharton worked with Lynott on the latter's 1982 solo recording The Philip Lynott Album where he played on most of the record's eleven tracks, and provided the piano solo on the single "Old Town".

In 1999 Darren Wharton reunited with Thin Lizzy touring Europe and the US documented on the 2000 live album One Night Only.

Darren Wharton formed his own band, Dare in 1985, releasing the album Out of the Silence in 1988.

Darren Wharton rejoined Lizzy as did original drummer Brian Downey, and original post-Lynott bass guitarist Marco Mendoza.

Under the name of Black Star Riders, the album was released as All Hell Breaks Loose in May 2013, with Darren Wharton co-writing the title track and the album closer "Blues Ain't So Bad".

However, Darren Wharton decided against joining Black Star Riders in order to concentrate on Dare and other projects.

Darren Wharton released his seventh Dare studio album Calm Before the Storm 2 on 1 October 2012.

In March 2016, Darren Wharton stated that mixing of the new Dare album, Sacred Ground, had begun.

Darren Wharton confirmed that this new band would not impact on the activities of Dare, stating at the time that Dare were already adding live dates for 2024, were engaged in re-recording the Blood from Stone album, as well as writing songs for a new Dare studio album.