Sharon Shannon (born 8 June 1968) is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, Sharon Shannon, was the best-selling album of traditional Irish music ever released in Ireland. Beginning with Irish folk music, her work demonstrates a wide-ranging number of musical influences. She won the lifetime achievement award at the 2009 Meteor Awards. Early life Shannon was born in Ruan, County Clare. At eight years old, she began performing with Disirt Tola, a local band, with which she toured the United States at the age of fourteen. Shannon also worked as a competitive show jumper, but gave it up at the age of sixteen to focus on her music. She similarly abandoned studying at University College Cork. In the mid-1980s, Shannon studied the accordion with Karen Tweed and the fiddle with Frank Custy, and performed with the band Arcady, of which she was a founding member. The Waterboys Shannon began her own recording career in 1989, working with producer John Dunford and musicians such as Adam Clayton, Mike Scott and Steve Wickham. This led to Shannon joining their band, The Waterboys. She was with the band for eighteen months, and contributed both accordion and fiddle to their Room to Roam album. Her first world tour was with The Waterboys. She left the group shortly after Wickham's departure, as the band was forced back to a more rock and roll sound. First solo recordings Her 1991 debut album, Sharon Shannon, is the best-selling album of traditional Irish music ever released in Ireland. Shannon's solo work has achieved remarkable airplay and commercial success, especially in Ireland. After her inclusion on A Woman's Heart, a compilation album and a tribute to her work on The Late Late Show, Shannon's music received a great deal of exposure, contributing to the record-breaking sales of her debut album. Sharon's second album, Out The Gap (1994), was produced by Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell and had a distinctly reggae feel. Sharon's track, "Cavan Potholes", written by Dónal Lunny is featured on the 1996 compilation Common Ground: Voices of Modern Irish Music. Other stars on the album include Sinéad O'Connor, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush and Bono. Sharon's fourth album titled Spellbound was released in September 1998. This compilation featured new material, live tracks and also tracks from previous