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Rock stars Ash look back: ‘Mark broke his feet jumping off a balcony – for the rest of the tour he self-medicated with gin and buckets of ice’

The Guardian UK Sunday 16 August 2026, 13:00 UTC By Harriet Gibsone 1 min read
Key Points

The Northern Irish band on jamming together at school, booze and breakdowns, and being a weirdly functional familyTim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray are the founding members of Ash. School friends from Downpatrick, County Down, they started out as a covers band called Vietnam in 1989. As Ash, their debut full-length album, 1977, went to No 1 in 1996.

The Northern Irish band on jamming together at school, booze and breakdowns, and being a weirdly functional family

Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray are the founding members of Ash. School friends from Downpatrick, County Down, they started out as a covers band called Vietnam in 1989. As Ash, their debut full-length album, 1977, went to No 1 in 1996. Shining Light, from 2001’s Free All Angels, won them an Ivor Novello award. The group have released nine albums, three of which feature guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. They are releasing a 30th anniversary edition of 1977 on 16 October and are on a world tour, including the UK and Ireland, until December.

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Northern Irish (ORG) Mark Hamilton (PERSON) Rick McMurray (PERSON) Downpatrick, County Down (LOCATION) Vietnam (LOCATION) Ivor Novello (ORG) Charlotte Hatherley (PERSON) UK (LOCATION) Ireland (LOCATION)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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