Dare

The Oldham classic rockers, fronted by singer-songwriter Darren Wharton (who first rose to fame in the early eighties playing keyboards with legendary Irish rock band Thin Lizzy), are one of the most respected and innovative melodic rock bands working today, gaining cult status among AOR fans for their modern anthemic rock with Celtic overtones.

The band's debut 1989 album Out Of The Silence recorded at Joni Mitchell's Bel Air Studio Los Angeles, and produced by Nickelback producer Mike Shipley is still widely regarded today as one of the all-time great AOR albums.

Darren joined Philip Lynott's Thin Lizzy at the tender age of eighteen and enjoyed 5 great years with the band touring extensively, alongside renowned guitarist Scott Gorham, drummer Brian Downey, guitarists Snowy White (Pink Floyd), Gary Moore and John Sykes (Whitesnake). Working closely with Philip Lynott, Darren also recorded classic Thin Lizzy albums, such as Chinatown, Renegade, and Thunder and Lightning on which Wharton co-wrote 3 songs, including the hit single The Sun Goes Down. Sadly, the latter was to be Thin Lizzy's last studio album, and in 1986 Darren Wharton returned to his home town of Manchester where, as an outlet for his creative flare for song writing and working with young Oldham guitarist Vinny Burns, he formed his own band, DARE.