Dave King

Dave King

Dave King is a Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. He is the founding member and current lead singer of Flogging Molly, and he first gains wider recognition as the original vocalist for the hard rock band Fastway.

Early career

King begins his professional career in the early 1980s when he is hired as singer for Fastway, an English hard rock group formed by ex-Motörhead guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke and ex-UFO bassist Pete Way. He sings on the band’s first four records and also on a live album. In 1985, Fastway is asked to record the soundtrack for the horror film Trick or Treat. Although the film performs poorly, the soundtrack helps present the group again as a heavier metal band. The combination of the soundtrack’s success and limited financial returns contributes to conflict within the band, and Fastway breaks up.

Q.E.D. and Katmandü

After Fastway ends, King takes most of the band members with him and forms Q.E.D., a more album-oriented rock group that issues a two-track single. He later forms Katmandü with guitarist Mandy Meyer, formerly of Krokus, and bassist Mike Alonso, formerly of Detroit band Speedball. Katmandü releases one self-titled album and has a couple of minor hits before splitting up. King keeps a record deal with Epic Records, which wants him to sing for Jeff Beck, but he turns down the offer.

Flogging Molly

King then begins developing the band that becomes Flogging Molly, bringing together new songs with a distinct Irish influence while keeping a fast, loud rock sound. Flogging Molly becomes the project most closely associated with him and reaches the upper end of the Billboard 200 album chart, as well as No. 1 on the Billboard Indie Chart. King is also a founding member of the band.

Style and later work

Across his career, King works in hard rock, AOR and Irish-influenced rock, with later material retaining the driving pace and volume of his earlier work. The available information also describes him as a singer, musician and songwriter based in Canada.