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The voyage of The Fisherman鈥檚 Friends

How a group of friends went from singing in their local pub to national stardom

Around 25 years ago a group of middle-aged friends in the small English village of Port Isaac got together and started singing sea shanties, which are a type of maritime song. After a chance encounter with a 麻豆社 radio DJ Johnnie Walker, they ended up landing a 拢1 million record contract. Much to the group鈥檚 surprise, their album ended up in the charts. Since then, The Fisherman鈥檚 Friends have played at the Royal Albert Hall, the Queen鈥檚 Diamond Jubilee and Glastonbury Festival.

Things were going exceptionally well until 2013 when there was an accident backstage at one of their gigs. A metal door collapsed and killed singer Trevor Grills and the band鈥檚 tour manager Paul McMullen. The band didn鈥檛 perform for a year and in fact had no intention of singing again.

However, they returned to the stage and this year have had a feature film made about them. It鈥檚 called Fisherman's Friends.

Outlook鈥檚 Emily Webb travelled to Port Isaac to find out about the amazing voyage of The Fisherman鈥檚 Friends.

Image: The Fisherman's Friends standing together
Credit: Chris Hewitt

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35 minutes

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