On 4 June 2010, legendary rock group Snow Patrol were honoured by the PRS for Music Heritage Award. A special plaque was erected in Belfast where the original group Gary Lightbody, Jonny Quinn and Mark McClelland- first performed, at the Duke of York pub in Belfast in 1998.
Current members – Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, Paul Wilson, Jonny Quinn and Tom Simpson were there to see the plaque unveiled.
"What I remember of the Duke Of York back then was that we did two nights, one acoustic and one as a full band, and there weren’t many people there. It’s great to be back where it all started. It hasn’t changed much at all, except there’s more posters on the walls now."-Jonny Quinn
"We never sold out the Duke Of York, and to be honest, getting 30 people back then was a good night. To be playing for up to 40,000 people now is incredible for us."-Gary LightbodySince their first gig in 1998, Snow Patrol has taken the musical world by storm. The band rose to national fame with their major label debut Final Straw in 2003. The album was certified 5 times platinum in the UK and sold over 2.9m copies worldwide. Their next studio album Eyes Open (2006) propelled the band to greater international fame. The album topped the UK Album Charts and was the best-selling British album of the year, selling over 4 million copies worldwide. In 2008, the band released their fifth studio album A Hundred Million Suns and in 2009 their first Best Of album Up to Now.
Snow Patrol have been nominated for five BRIT Awards, five Meteor Ireland Music Awards and an Ivor Novello.
