Cherish the Ladies ranks among the most respected and in-demand Irish-American ensembles within Celtic music. What originated as a limited 1985 concert series evolved under this all-female collective into a sustained career spanning decades, encompassing multiple albums, international tours, and partnerships with acts including the Chieftains, Pete Seeger, Vince Gill, and the Boston Pops. With Joanie Madden at the helm, the continually shifting ensemble has served as a launching point for numerous skilled female Celtic performers such as Eileen Ivers, Heidi Talbot, and Winifred Horan. Across their extensive output, the group has produced recordings for prominent imprints including RCA along with esteemed folk outlets like Shanachie, Green Linnet, Windham Hill, and Rounder, in addition to issuing a 2013 Emmy-winning live DVD.
The ensemble emerged from a New York concert series designed to heighten visibility for Irish-American women within a Celtic scene then dominated by men. Veteran Irish musician Mick Moloney formed its initial 1985 lineup. Fronted by Bronx-born whistle and flute player Joanie Madden and adopting a title drawn from a traditional jig, the musicians delivered sold-out performances at Manhattan's Ethnic Folk Arts Center, which in turn produced the 1985 album Irish Women Musicians in America. Though initially framed as a singular collaboration, their exceptional musicianship elicited strong audience approval and generated calls for continued projects.
From the early '90s onward, Cherish the Ladies solidified their status as a formidable talent collective, anchored by a core roster centered on Madden that at different points featured musicians such as Cathie Ryan, Maureen Doherty Macken, Siobhan Egan, Mary Coogan, Aoife Clancy, and Eileen Ivers, among additional members. Blending songs with traditional jigs and reels, incorporating live Irish step dancing and lush vocal harmonies, they earned recognition as an electrifying concert act with performances spanning the globe. Following several releases on Celtic-focused Green Linnet Records, Cherish the Ladies delivered two major-label albums on RCA in the late '90s, the second being 1999's At Home, which incorporated contributions from members of the Clancy Brothers.
Joint projects have formed a consistent thread throughout the group's history. They appeared with the legendary Boston Pops Orchestra in 1998 on the Grammy-nominated collection The Celtic Album. Their 2001 release The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone incorporated contributions from an array of external artists, ranging from American folk figures like Pete Seeger and Tom Chapin to pop-leaning Irish performers such as Luka Bloom and Hothouse Flowers frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí. In 2004 the band captured their debut holiday album, On Christmas Night. They followed a year later with another guest-filled effort, Woman of the House, featuring associates including fiddle legend Phil Cunningham, accordionist Sharon Shannon, and singer Eddi Reader. Their 2011 album Country Crossroads marked a career highlight through its genre-blending approach that united them with country artists like Vince Gill and Nanci Griffith.
Beyond their extensive recorded catalog, Cherish the Ladies cultivated a widely enjoyed Celtic pops presentation that toured nationally, accumulating hundreds of engagements over the years alongside numerous leading orchestras worldwide. In 2013 they issued the Emmy-winning live DVD An Irish Homecoming, captured during their concert at Bucknell University. The ensemble has sustained its touring and recording activity, reemerging in 2015 with a follow-up holiday collection, Christmas in Ireland, and again in 2018 with the energetic Heart of the Home album.
