ARTIST · R&B / ROCK

Van Morrison

Melismatic preacher over swing session—saxophone testimonies at midnight mass.

Rock
R&B
Celtic soul

Updated 27 October 2026

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Biography

Moondance bottled cocktail-hour groove without diluting Belfast grit.

Astral Weeks rewrote singer-songwriter ambition into improvisatory confession.

Later catalogs chase country jazz, spiritual inquiry, and showband velocity.

Lossless streams reveal upright thump, horn section breath, and vocal scoop control.

Morrison started in the Belfast group Them, who recorded Gloria and Here Comes the Night. His solo career took off with Astral Weeks (1968), a poetic, jazz-inflected record. Moondance (1970) included Into the Mystic and Crazy Love, and Tupelo Honey (1971) followed.

Veedon Fleece (1974), Wavelength (1978), Avalon Sunset (1989), and Days Like This (1995) continued his run. He is known for a rough, soulful voice and for prolific output.

Van Morrison: recent news, 2020–2026

2021 Latest Record Project, Volume 1, a double album of 28 songs, was released in May.

Interesting facts about Van Morrison

01 Northern Irish singer-songwriter born George Ivan Morrison in Belfast.
02 Moondance (1970) included Into the Mystic and the title track among staples.
03 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and knighted for services to music.
04 Was the lead singer of the group Them in the 1960s.
05 Astral Weeks was released in 1968.