The Waterboys

About

The Waterboys are a Scottish folk-rock band founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by singer-songwriter Mike Scott. Breakthrough albums 'This Is the Sea' (1985) and 'Fisherman's Blues' (1988) blended Celtic folk, gospel and rock into what Scott called 'big music'. After dissolving in 1993 the band reformed in 2000, and has continued releasing albums and touring ever since, with Scott as the sole constant member.

2.9M

monthly listeners on Spotify

45.1K

YouTube subscribers

40M

streams of 'The Whole of the Moon' on YouTube

studio albums released

What's new

2026-07
Atlantic Rain, a three-part collection featuring previously unreleased material from the Fisherman's Blues sessions (1986-1988), was released on 17 July 2026 via Chrysalis Records.
2026-04
The Waterboys announced an Australian and New Zealand tour for May 2026 - their first visit to that region in more than ten years.
2025-12
The accompanying album 'Rips From the Cutting Room Floor', featuring 16 new songs as a supplement to 'Life, Death and Dennis Hopper', was released on 5 December 2025 via Sun Records.
2025-04
The sixteenth studio album 'Life, Death and Dennis Hopper' - a 25-part 'song cycle' about the life of actor Dennis Hopper, featuring guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple - was released on 4 April 2025 via Sun Records.
2025-11
The Waterboys announced the Fisherman's Blues Revue tour for August-September 2026, with cities including Glasgow, Dublin, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, London, Oslo and Stockholm; original violinist Steve Wickham and Steve Earle join in.