Big Tom

Tom McBride (1936 - 2018), known as Big Tom, was a famed and loved Irish country singer with a career spanning over five decades. He started his showbusiness journey in 1966 when he became the frontman of the Irish showband, Big Tom & The Mainliners. Tom, a native of the small town of Castleblayney in County Monaghan, deep in the Irish midlands, had three number 1 chart hits in the 1970's and many other top 10 hits including Gentle Mother, Four Country Roads and The Same Way You Came In. Many of Tom's most successful songs were written by prolific Donegal man and Denver Records founder, Johnny McCauley. Tom joined the Denver Records label as a featured artist following his early releases through Emerald Records prior to 1971. Tom continued to release huge selling albums with The Mainliners, and later The Travellers, throughout the 70's and 80's. Tom reunited with members of The Mainliners for tour dates around Ireland and the UK in 2008. From 2011 until his death in 2018, Big Tom and his band continued to perform and made sporadic public appearances including being joined on The Late Late Show Country Music Special in 2015 where he was joined by a huge cast of his fellow country music friends and fans for a rendition of his hit, Four Country Roads. In 2017 Big Tom recorded a long awaited duet with his long standing friend and country star in her own right, Margo O'Donnell. Tom was married to his loving wife Rose for 52 years upon the singer's passing in April 2018.