Christy Dignam was born in Holles Street Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, on 25th May 1960.  Son of Christopher Snr and wife Teresa, Christy and his 7 siblings grew up in a loving home in the north Dublin suburb of Finglas.



Christy always wanted to be a singer and from an early age he studied the classical art of Bel Canto singing with teacher Frank Merriman at the Bel Canto House School of Singing in Dublin.

His first band was Electron, then came Meelah XVIII which eventually became Aslan. In the early days Christy was very much the driving force of the band, arranging equipment and places to rehearse.

Christy and Aslan band mate Joe Jewell grew up in the same area, went to the same school and worked in the same company, the Post & Telegraph. Both of them left the company when Aslan went full time.


He was the lead singer of Aslan from its inception in 1986 until September 1988 when he was sacked by the band.  At the time it was reported that he was sacked due to a sprialling drug addiction and his refusal to seek help and visit rehab.  

After some time in rehab, Christy unearthed some previously buried demons.  He was sexually abused by a neighbour at the ages of 6 and again, by another, at the age of 9.  He believed this deep rooted trauma to have played some part in his drug related problems. 

Dignam continued as a solo artist for a short time after the Aslan split and released the double A side vinyl, One Man’s Dream / Chasing Shadows in 1989.

Christy got the treatment he needed and went on to tell The Irish Times in November of 1997 “Had the split not happened I’d probably be dead now, I don’t really have much doubt about that.“



Christy teamed up with guitarist Conor Goff in 1990 and formed the duo known as Dignam & Goff which gained a decent following in Ireland and America. They released no less than 12 songs within a 2 year period, but they never quite reached the heights that Aslan did.

Christy joined Aslan on 11th July 1993 for what was supposed to be a ‘once off gig’ in Finglas. As the story goes, there was a week of rehearsals before the gig, which the band had nailed in a couple of days.  The vibe of being back together was so good that they decided to write 2 songs with the time they had left, one of which was the now infamous Crazy World.  After the gig, Christy had to fly back to America to finish touring commitments he had with Conor Goff.  When they were done, Christy rejoined Aslan and remained with the band until his death on 13th June 2023.

In early 2013 Christy increasingly found himself breathless, he was admitted to hospital in March 2013 with a suspected chest infection.  After numerous tests he was diagnosed with both amyloidosis, in which amyloid proteins build up in the body’s organs, and myeloma, a cancer that attacks plasma cells in the bone marrow.

Initially given only days to live, Christy fought an enormous battle and survived for 10 years after his diagnosis undergoing numerous chemo treatments along the way.  He continued his dream of performing throughout this time with both Aslan and went on to release his legacy solo album titled The Man Who Stayed Alive.

After a period of time in hospital in 2022, Christy’s family announced on 13th January 2023 that he had been receiving palliative care at is home since December 2022.  

On the 13th June 2023, Christy’s wife Kathryn held his hand and they both sang “Song for Kathryn” as he passed peacefully at home.

Christy listed David Bowie as one of his biggest influences. He would later go on to play the same stage as Bowie at Slane in 1986.

He enjoyed any music that had a good melody and a good singer.

Christy released 2 autobiographies in his time. The first was This Is Christy Dignam, it was written with journalist Neil Fetherstonhaugh and published by Merlin Publishing. The book is so candid and honest about the pain and suffering of drug addiction that it led one reviewer to say it “should be required reading for anyone hovering on the edges of the drug culture.”

His second autobiography was released in 2020 and was named My Crazy World.

Christy told Ryan Tubrity in a final candid interview that he had recorded some music with Finbar Fury.  This is yet to be released as of February 2024.

Fun fact



Christy was once locked out of his room in the Columbia Hotel in London wearing nothing but a rubber dress.



Favourite Aslan Songs

Broken Soul