Early years Before forming Flogging Molly,
Dublin-born Dave King was the lead singer for the heavy metal band
Fastway featuring guitarist
"Fast" Eddie Clarke of Motörhead in the early to mid-
1980s. He later fronted a hard rock band called Katmandu (1991), featuring
Mandy Meyer of
Krokus and
Asia on guitars. Afterward, King retained a record deal with
Epic Records and began to work on a solo album, but he began to reconsider his record deal when the label opposed his idea of bringing in traditional Irish instruments. King negotiated out of his record deal to go his own way musically soon after. In 1993, King met
violin player Bridget Regan, guitarist
Ted Hutt, bassist Jeff Peters and drummer
Paul Crowder, and put together a rock band with a
Celtic music influence. They began to play a mix of Irish traditional and rock music. Putting King's poetic lyrics to rocking melodies, they played weekly at a Los Angeles pub called Molly Malone's, building a small but loyal following. Together, they wrote songs such as "Black Friday Rule" and "Selfish Man", which was the beginning of Flogging Molly's sound. Ted and Jeff then left Flogging Molly because an earlier band of theirs, Reacharound, received a record deal. King and Regan began to find new members and the current band was formed. They continued a routine of playing every Monday night at Molly Malone's. They put out a live album,
Alive Behind the Green Door, in 1997. In an interview with
Kerrang! magazine, King stated that the band's name comes from the bar (Molly Malone's) that faithfully supported the band from the very beginning, "We used to play there every Monday night and we felt like we were flogging it to death, so we called the band Flogging Molly." They were signed to
SideOneDummy Records after a show when the record company's owners attended a concert and noted their intensity.
Career The band’s debut studio album,
Swagger, arrived on March 7, 2000, their first of many with
SideOneDummy. They joined the Vans Warped Tour for the first time that summer alongside
Green Day,
Weezer, and
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (whom they continued touring alongside in the fall).
Drunken Lullabies followed on March 19, 2002, and was certified gold by the RIAA in 2009. They returned to the Warped Tour in 2003 with a lineup that included
The All-American Rejects and
Dropkick Murphys.
Within a Mile of Home, released on September 14, 2004, debuted at No. 20 on the
Billboard 200. The acoustic/live CD/DVD combo,
Whiskey on a Sunday, was released in 2006 and certified platinum two years later. It was followed by the 2007 online-only EP,
Complete Control Sessions. The group’s fourth studio album,
Float, debuted at No. 4 on the
Billboard 200 in 2008 and produced two well-received singles: "Requiem for a Dying Song" (No. 35 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts) and the title track (No. 40). 2011's
Speed of Darkness was the band's first album issued through their own label, Borstal Beat Records.
Life Is Good, the band's first new album in six years, arrived in 2017. It is the only Flogging Molly album released via
Vanguard Records and
Spinefarm. They co-headlined a US tour with
Social Distortion in 2019. The band live-streamed a St. Patrick's Day performance on March 17, 2021, from Whelan’s Irish Pub in
Dublin, Ireland. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales went toward Sweet Relief’s COVID-19 Crew Fund. They co-headlined a tour with
Violent Femmes the same year. Flogging Molly released their seventh studio album,
Anthem, in 2022, their first with
Rise Records. They co-headlined a tour with
The Interrupters the same year. In November 2023, the band announced the inaugural Shamrock Rebellion Fest, scheduled for March 16, 2024, in Silverado, California, and March 17, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Road To Rebellion Tour preceded the fest, with support coming from Amigo The Devil. Flogging Molly performed
The Pogues' "The Old Main Drag" at the Sinéad & Shane (billed as "a St. Paddy's Celebration of
Sinéad O'Connor and
Shane MacGowan") at Carnegie Hall concert in New York City on March 20, 2024. After a June 20, 2024, fire damaged Molly Malone's Irish Pub, where the band got their start, the band launched a merchandise line to raise money for the venue and staff. The band began a European tour on July 19, 2024, which ran through September, with stops at several major festivals, followed by a headlining tour of the United States from late September through mid-October 2024.
Salty Dog Cruises (2015–present) From March 13 to 16, 2015, Flogging Molly began hosting a yearly Caribbean cruise. The 2015 Salty Dog Cruise Cruise featured shows by the band and many others, over three days leaving from
Miami to
Nassau and
Great Stirrup Cay on the
Norwegian Sky. All bands performed two times on the stages throughout the ship or on the special stage set on
Norwegian's private island of Great Stirrup Cay. In 2016, from March 18 to 21, the second yearly cruise took the same itinerary on the same ship and hosted, among others,
Rancid,
Fishbone,
Frank Turner,
Street Dogs and
The Tossers. In 2017, the
Enchantment of the Seas hosted the third annual cruise that left on March 10 to
Coco Cay and Nassau, until coming back to Miami on March 13. The guests invited by the band were
NOFX,
DeVotchKa,
Less Than Jake,
The English Beat,
The Skatalites,
The Bouncing Souls,
Dylan Walshe and many others. On August 21, 2017, the band announced that the 2018 cruise would take place April 20–23, leaving from
Miami, sailing to
Key West and to
Great Stirrup Cay. Originally, the cruise was supposed to take place on the
Enchantment of the Seas in 2017; however, the ship was changed, and the
Norwegian Sky has been announced. The line-up includes
The Offspring,
Buzzcocks,
The Vandals,
Lagwagon, and
Mad Caddies, among others. The Salty Dog Cruise 2023 ran November 8–13, sailing from
Miami to
Harvest Caye,
Belize, and
Costa Maya,
Mexico. The line-up included Flogging Molly,
Pennywise,
Stiff Little Fingers,
The Vandals, and
Gorilla Biscuits, among others, with a Port of Miami kickoff show featuring
The Interrupters. In late November 2023, the band announced the next Salty Dog Cruise, set for February 17–22, 2025, sailing from
Miami to
Grand Cayman, and Ochos Rios,
Jamaica. As of December 15, 2023, the 2025 cruise was sold out. On February 5, 2025, the band announced that they would be forced to cancel their upcoming would and also would not be performing on the 2025 Salty Dog Cruise as Dave King was battling a serious health condition. On March 17, on social media, the band announced that King had suffered a
brain hemorrhage on January 24th, and underwent two subsequent surgeries to save his life. He had entered the next phase of recovery when the announcement was made. With King on the mend, the group announced they would be performing again at the 2026
Warped Tour for all five dates along with their 2026 Salty Dog Cruise however on April 8, 2026, the band announced that they were cancelling their appearances at the Warped Tour citing health concerns with King however they still planned to appear on the Salty Dog Cruise. "Hi all. On doctor’s advice, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the Warped Tour performances we had scheduled for this year. "We would have loved to have played for you all, but at the moment Dave’s recovery comes first. Thanks to everyone for your love and support, and we look forward to seeing all of your smiling faces on the cruise! Thank you, Flogging Molly" the band said through a social media statement. ==Musical style==