The 4 of Us are a rock band from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, best known outside Ireland for their output in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Of the four founding members, only brothers Brendan and Declan Murphy have remained continuously part of the group; the occupants of the other positions have varied.
History
The 4 of Us released their first album, Songs for the Tempted on CBS Records in 1989, with the single "Mary", becoming one of the most played songs on Irish radio that year. Consequently, the album went double platinum in the Republic of Ireland and won Best Album of the Year at the Irish Music Awards, defeating the internationally known act U2. The album Man Alive followed on Sony/Columbia Records in 1992, and saw the group enter the UK charts for the first time, with the album entering the chart at No. 64, and the single, "She Hits Me" spending four weeks on the chart peaking at No. 35. The band then lost momentum, scrapping the release of Amplifier, their proposed third album but released two singles, "Change " and "Someone's Got to Lose" in 1997. They did not separate however, and eventually returned to recording albums, releasing the largely acoustic-based Classified Personal on the FUTURE INC. label in 1999.
2000s
Off the Record, an album of re-recordings of the band's best known songs appeared on EMI in 2000 and included the previously unreleased songs "The Girl Next Door" and "She's So Real". In 2003, the single "Sunlight", which would appear on the 2004 albumHeaven and Earth, began to receive airplay and was voted fourth in a poll to find the 'best Irish single ever', conducted by the national radio stationToday FM.
In November 2006, the band released the album Fingerprints and followed this with a live album, Live at Vicar Street in 2009. Throughout 2010/2011 via their Facebook page, the band previewed exclusive content, including previously unreleased tracks "The Way the River Flows" and "I Guess I Wasn't Made for These Times" which was made available as a free download single for a limited period. On 21 October 2011, Brendan confirmed via The Gerry Anderson Show on BBC Radio Ulster, that a brand new studio album is in progress and scheduled for release in 2012. He also mentioned the possibility of a 'Best Of...' compilation in the very near future. Declan announced on 5 December 2011 via Facebook that the previously unavailable third album Amplifier would be released as a free download on the band's . On 14 August 2013, the first track "Seventy-Three" from the new album Sugar Island was premiered on the band's The4OfUsMurphyMusic YouTube channel. This was followed up on 10 September with "Hell to Pay". On 25 March 2015, "Birds Eye View" was premiered before getting its mastered radio release on 8 April.
Solo work
In 2010, Brendan Murphy released his first solo album Walk with Me with brother Declan playing on several tracks. Via Brendan's Facebook, the non-album song "She Comes at Night" was made available as a limited free download single in May 2011 and, due to popular demand, again in November 2011. Also via Brendan Murphy's Facebook page, two demos of "Shadow on the Sun" and "Raise the Dead Man", co-written with string arranger Kevin Malpass, were previewed.
Recognition
Man Alive was listed at one of Q magazine's Top 50 albums of 1992.
In 2009, the band were voted No. 7 in the Top Irish Bands Ever category along with U2 and Thin Lizzy on Irish television's TV3.
