Lead singer Mike McColgan left the band later that year to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a Boston firefighter (but later returned to the punk scene with the Street Dogs). In 1998 they released their first full-length album, Do or Die, which was produced by Rancid's Lars Frederiksen. Īfter putting out a series of EPs, they were signed by Hellcat Records. They received their first big break when The Mighty Mighty Bosstones selected them as the openers for their 1997 tour in support of Let's Face It. The band first started playing in the basement of a friend's barbershop and soon found that people loved their music, and as a result began to tour and record. History Mike McColgan era: 1996-1998ĭropkick Murphys was originally formed in 1996 in Quincy, Massachusetts, initially consisting of lead vocalist Mike McColgan, bassist/vocalist Ken Casey, guitarist Rick Barton, and drummer Jeff Erna (who would be replaced in the next year by Matt Kelly). There's a bunch a stories, it's also a boxer, a bunch of things, a rehab center in Connecticut, grandparents used to scare kids with it. I think it was the guy who used to come around late at night for all the drunks, like if you were too drunk to drive home, he would come and get you and put you in this hole that you couldn't get out until you were sober enough, I don't know. It's a rehab center, I think it's in Connecticut. The Dropkick Murphy will come and get you if you don't go to sleep tonight. There are differing stories as to the origin of the band's name. Records, and have seen each of their subsequent albums, The Meanest of Times and Going Out In Style, chart in the Billboard top 20. In 2007 the band signed with Warner Bros.

The band's final Hellcat release, 2005's The Warrior's Code, features two charting singles, Tessie, which was recorded for the Boston Red Sox to be played after home game wins, and I'm Shipping Up to Boston, which was featured in the Academy Award winning movie The Departed.

Patrick's Day week shows, held in and around Boston.

The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St. Street Dogs, The Bruisers, The Ducky Boys, The Exit, Everybody Out!, The Outletsĭropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Dropkick Murphys at Shamrock Fest in 2011.

Dropkick murphys albums sold